Members of the Alki Community Council last week voted 192 to 28 not to request parking be allowed on Alki Avenue from the 1100 block to the 1700 block.

Ironically, following the Thursday night vote, a car careened off Alki just south of Luna Park early Sunday morning and went into the bay, killing two and injuring four teenagers. Just a few months, ago, the same place was the scene of a motorcycle leaving the roadway resulting in the death of the motorcycle rider and a teen skateboarding on the wide promenade.

The proposal to open the mile long stretch of beachside roadway to parking was made by Bonnie David, managing partner of Salty's at Alki on behalf of the Alki Business Group.

"Parking on Alki is a huge problem," David told the estimated 150 attending the meeting at the Alki Community Center. "Can we afford to eliminate more parking? Tonight is a starting point."

Many things have changed in the beach community since parking was banned along the stretch. The water taxi has added a need for parking spaces, especially when the bridge is closed or clogged due to traffic, David said.

"Closing your eyes will not make parking problems go away," she said.

One resident suggest that people going to pubs and restaurants will not walk the mile or more from the proposed parking area to the business area.

"Trust me, people will not walk an hour for a restaurant," the resident said to chuckles.

Gary Ogden, a trustee of the Alki Community Council, said parking was allowed on both sides of the street 30 years ago but he said he was on the council executive board when it applied to get money to extend the existing train on Harbor Avenue all the way to the end of the Alki.

In a piece Ogden wrote for the council news letter, he said a "no net gain/no net loss" of parking was decided upon, so all angle parking was taken away, leaving parallel parking only "at the most heavily utilized areas of the Alki Strip: the common beach, the business areas and the boat launch." The no parking area remained across from the condos because each of those buildings had at least 1.5 parking spaces per unit.

He suggested that parking for the water taxi could be spread out along Harbor Avenue, Alki and even to the Junction and Admiral because of the connecting shuttle bus.

Mike Estey, manager of parking regulations for the city, said the city backed away from parking problems at Alki because of a desire to not get "in between group." He said there was no physical reason parking could not be reinstituted but the city wants "a bit more consensus."

Police Lt. Steven Paulsen said his officers would adapt to whatever the citizens want, however noting that parking would constrict the street in case of emergencies.

But Fire Department Capt. Preston Bang said parking would make it harder for large fire trucks and emergency units to negotiate the street, especially during busy summer months when traffic is often bumper-to-bumper on Alki Avenue.

"Fires are rare these days, 80 percent of our business is medical relief and our response time is three to four minutes," Bang said. "Parallel parking is tolerable, (but) angle parking is not tolerable - we require access to get to you quickly to save life and property."

He noted that trucks and live saving units are getting bigger all the time, so anything that constricts a street slows their units.

Some audience members quizzed the police lieutenant and fire captain about the affects of parking in the area but both officers said they would find ways to get to crime or injury sites.

West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Executive Patti Mullen said she and her organization are seeing to find additional parking "in the underutilized property on Harbor Drive," perhaps at the Port of Seattle owned Jack Block Park.

The vote means Alki Community Council President Jackie Ramels will write a letter to the city saying the group does not favor adding parking.

Jack Mayne may be reached at jmayne@robinsonnews.com or 932.0300.