Things are about to change in Bellingham after a summer without parking officers

Bellingham has been short on parking control officers for several months, leading to a summer of little enforcement, even as rates increased earlier this year and meters were installed in Fairhaven for the first time.

But that changes soon with the addition of two officers who started Friday, Sept. 16.

They should be trained and on patrol by the end of the month, Police Chief Rebecca Mertzig told The Bellingham Herald.

As The Bellingham Herald reported in May, the city had only one parking officer amid a labor shortage that’s affecting the entire country.

That officer left, leaving the city to fill its four budgeted full-time positions.

Two officers were recently hired, and the city is recruiting two more for the job that pays $24.61 to $30.29 per hour, plus benefits, according to previous Herald reporting.

Meanwhile, parking enforcement is being shifted from the Police Department to the Public Works Department by early 2023, said Public Works Director Eric Johnston.

That’s “consistent with the city’s stated goal to move non-criminal enforcement activities out of the Bellingham Police Department,” Johnston told The Herald in an email.

Even though parking enforcement has been lacking, many visitors to downtown Bellingham and Fairhaven are feeding the meters nonetheless.

“This is proven by the steady growth with parking meter payments,” Johnston told The Herald.

“Staff are also observing that the changes implemented earlier this year are providing the desired parking turnover in both Fairhaven and downtown. Businesses are similarly reporting positive feedback on parking availability for customers,” he said.

That’s the reason for paid parking — to create available spaces for shoppers and other downtown patrons, according to previous Herald reporting.

He said that the addition of parking kiosks that accept credit and debit cards as well as cash, along with the PaybyPhone mobile app, have made paying for parking easier and encouraged more drivers to pay.

“More than 45% of all payments for parking meters were made by mobile applications in the month of August. The convenience of that type of payment option has been key to reducing the number of parking tickets issued by the city by nearly two-thirds since the rollout of the PaybyPhone option,” he said.

But Elaine Woods of Fairhaven Village isn’t a fan of paid parking in the historic shopping district.

“There’s a lot of unfairness built into the system,” Woods told The Herald. “It’s quite unfair to the young people who work there.”

Robin Robertson, who owns the Bellingham Training and Tennis Club in Fairhaven, said she “wears different hats” and offered a measured opinion as a business owner, a member of the Fairhaven Association business group, and a member of the city’s Parking Task Force.

Robertson’s business has its own parking lot but employees are discouraged from using it, she said.

“We are seeing that there are more parking spaces on the street for customers. Many residents are now parking in the spaces that were developed for them, and the downtown employees are not parking,” Robertson told The Herald.

Downtown residents often parked free on the street instead of paying for parking in their building’s underground lots, she said.

But the downtown workforce has struggled with the cost of parking, she said.

“Right now there is more on-street parking for shoppers to find a place to park near where they want to go. The underside of that is that there is no good solution to the employee parking problem,” she said.

A nearby church has been offering free parking for employees but will be ending that arrangement, leaving only 100 or so spaces for free parking in “the pit,” a dirt lot at Mill Avenue and 11th Street across from the Village Green, she said.

Parking rates, hours and fees that started earlier this year include:

▪ An hourly parking fee of $1 an hour.

▪ Doubling the price of a meter violation to $30. A late fee of $25 will be added if the fine isn’t paid in 30 days.

▪ Changing the hours of paid parking to 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

▪ Adding paid parking in Fairhaven.

▪ The Commercial Street parking garage is free after 5 p.m. on weekdays.

▪ All parking garages and all city lots are free from 6 p.m. Friday to 11 a.m. Monday.

▪ Parking is free on Sundays and city holidays.

Parking fees aren’t aimed at creating a funding source, but rather at ensuring there’s adequate parking by creating turnover, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.

Revenue from paid parking funds downtown improvements, including winter holiday decorations, flowers in summer and weeding of garden beds.