LETTER: City needs to get parking district right the first time

The Westside Residential Parking District, renamed the Flathead Parking District, is an item on this Monday’s already full City Council agenda.  

It has had many make-overs. The “spin” is that nothing will satisfy a whining neighborhood; the truth is that the make-overs are flawed plans which will diminish property values, make the neighborhood less safe and not solve the parking problem.

One proposed plan denies any homeowner or renter living at a street address to participate or opt-in to the residential parking district. Another proposed plan allows students and staff to park on one side of each street and one side of each avenue of each block. This leaves an entire block of residents with only one side of each street and one side of each avenue of their block for their parking needs.

Some council members have said this is a community problem. It is hard to understand how those folks living on the East, North or South sides of Kalispell have any “skin” in any of these proposed parking district plans.

Other folks say it’s the fault of the residents of this Westside neighborhood; after all, they are choosing to buy or live there. The Supreme Court ruled commuters do not have the same rights as residents but all residents have the right to park in their neighborhoods.  This means the argument of who came first, the chicken or the egg (the school or the neighborhood), is a moot point.  What is important is students and staff do not have the same rights to parking as residents in the neighborhood.

This neighborhood is hoping someday to enjoy the same property rights regarding parking as their fellow citizens living on the East, North, and South sides of this city enjoy.

The city of Missoula took three years to get their residential parking district right. It has withstood legal battles and other tests to remain intact. It would behoove the City Council members to take the time to get this residential parking district right and if that means taking more time, then by all means do so. —Karlene Osorio-Khor, Kalispell