Bethesda Parking Lot 31 to Close

Beginning in mid-January, two surface parking lots in Bethesda (known as Lots 31 and 31A), located at the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues, will close for about 30 months for the construction of a public-private partnership project that will more than triple the number of public parking spaces available on the site. One to two months after the project begins, Woodmont Avenue between Bethesda Avenue and Leland Street will also close for about 20 months. The adjacent Capital Crescent Trail will remain open during the entire construction project.

In the interim, you can park at the Bethesda-Elm Parking Garage (Garage 57), which has more than 900 parking spaces and is located between Bethesda Avenue and Elm Street. If you need to park for a longer time, you can use the Woodmont Corner Garage (Garage 11), at Woodmont and Old Georgetown Road, and the Auburn-Del Ray Garage (Garage 36), as well as at privately operated parking facilities surrounding Lot 31. Also remember the free Bethesda Circulator shuttle bus. Starting in December, and throughout the construction period, the Circulator schedule will expand, and the frequency of service will increase.

New Residential Parking Legislation

Last week, the Council approved Zoning Text Amendment 09-03, which was part of a package of code enforcement legislation sent to the Council by the County Executive. Parking was the main focus of the ZTA, which limits the amount of parking on a front yard based on its zone. In the R-200, R-150 and R-90 zones, 30 percent of the yard may be covered by surfaced parking; in R-60 and R-40 zones, 35 percent of the yard may be covered, and on houses on major streets, 50 percent of the yard may be covered. These requirements may be waived if necessary for public safety.

The parking regulations have a grandfather clause that allows properties with surfaced parking that exceeds the new limits to remain in place, but homeowners may not expand that area. The ZTA also includes a six month amortization clause: simply put, this means that at the conclusion of the six month period after the law goes into effect, homeowners may not park their cars on grass or dirt on their front yards and must install a parking surface such as asphalt or wood chips.

The ZTA also places a limit on the number of cars that can be parked on a front yard. All lots are allowed a minimum of 320 square feet of area for parking in the front yard, roughly sufficient for two cars. Each additional vehicle requires at least 160 square feet of surface area.

The ZTA made two other changes to current County law: it requires home business operators to prove they live where the business is taking place and it allows light commercial vehicles (such as smaller tow trucks which are shorter than 21 feet long and lower than 8 feet high) to be parked on residentially zoned lots.

Choosing to Save Ride On Service

Yesterday the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, which I chair, voted to recommend retention of the current service for approximately 18 Ride On bus routes that were targeted for elimination or reduced service in the County Executive’s proposed FY10 operating budget. To offset the costs of retaining the bus routes, we recommended an increase in parking rates in the Bethesda/North Bethesda area.

I don’t like raising fees, certainly, but I find eliminating bus service even less palatable. Transit has a lot of benefits, including reducing congestion and mitigating climate change. But, my most important consideration right now is that that Ride On is the only transportation option for many of our residents. During difficult times, we must make sure the most vulnerable of our residents continue to have the tools they need for their health, safety and productivity.

The Ride On service cuts would have saved approximately $2 million, but would have resulted in about 323,000 fewer riders annually. The full Council will consider the recommended changes as a part of its final budget discussions later in May.

To fund the restored bus routes, we recommended an increase of 25 cents per hour in all short-term spaces for public parking in the Bethesda Parking Lot District. Also recommended are increases in the long-term hourly rate, for a monthly Parking Convenience Sticker and for other associated fees. For more details, see the press release.

Parking Lot District Use of Revenue

Today, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee (T & E) began its discussions of Bill 17-09, Parking Lot Districts—Use of Revenue. I introduced this bill on April 14 as a way of making it possible to use parking district revenues to fund transit that serves that particular district.

As everyone knows, money is tight right now. On the table are proposals to eliminate bus service. It seems to me that where we have parking revenue not needed for parking services, we should be able to use some of that money to support alternatives to driving.

The law already permits the use of some of these revenues (fines and parking fees) for transit related uses. Right now, we spend over $5 million of this money on traffic management, ridesharing, commuting alternatives, other mass transit uses and the urban district services.

Transit has long been a priority for me, and it is our best option for reducing congestion, combating climate change and ultimately enhancing our quality of life. I’m committed to looking at any opportunity to preserve transit under our current budget constraints.

A public hearing will be held on May 5 at 7:30, and the T & E Committee will continue its discussions on May 8. To register for the public hearing, call 240-777-7931. Take a look at the bill, and let me know what you think.