As the city continues its march to place parking meters wherever there are a few cars, those of us in Ballard can look about and judge just what it means to have no free parking around. In fact, we have precious little parking available at any price.

The flood of new condominiums has seen to that, as has the very positive growth of downtown Ballard. We have a lot of new businesses, to be sure a lot of new restaurants and more than a few new watering holes, but so far the mix is on the very good side.

Across the street from historic Ballard Avenue are new condominiums for seniors and just about everyone is happy with the results.

But there are a lot more condos coming and a few apartments. Most provide parking but often not enough. With the cost of these new units a bit up in the stratosphere, more often than now, two adults will reside in these units and since bus service is spotty to anywhere but downtown and back, often two automobiles are part of the deal (along with a bicycle or two, but crossing the Ballard Bridge is a bit danger to cyclists).

Parking availability will remain a problem for business here for a long while and we see it getting worse and worse. We hope the city will not see fit to balance its budget, despite delincing incomes, on the backs of the people that Ballard business needs to fluorish.

Fremont is a place where the city is using poor tactics, telling the Chamber of Commerce it is still just considering parking meters there, but then it comes out that the parking kiosks have already been purchased. The chamber complained and wrote a letter to the city asking why it is being lied to.

"Over 2,000 people signed petitions, sent letters and generally conveyed their disapproval and discontent with installing paid parking in Fremont," wrote Jessica Vets, the executive director of the Fremont Chamber. "Although much of this feedback has been sent to both Seattle Department of Transportation and City Council, the response from both has been underwhelming, at best. We received canned answers from City Council directing us to Seattle Department of Transportation and while Seattle Department of Transportation staffers have met with in earnest, it is apparent that they have limited authority to effect the changes we want to see in the proposed plan."

It is too late for Ballard, and we remain worried our sucesses will lead to more parking incursions, increased rates and less concern for the small businesses that make this place still somewhere special. There are times when the hand of city government should be extended in assistance, not just with an expectation that we will fill the hand with money to balance the city's needy budget.

Before the City Council increased parking rates by 50-cents an hours, Beth Miller of the Ballard Chamber said, "If the proposed parking revenue increases would directly benefit Ballard, the community might look at this proposal differently. But these revenues go into the general fund and we see no specific benefit to our neighborhood. Instead, we are given one more worry about the survival of our business district..."

We have heard nothing in response from downtown. Maybe they do not care what we think.

- Jack Mayne

jmayne@robinsonnews.com