Reduced Parking Times Coming To Downtown Wenatchee

If you park your car in downtown Wenatchee, you'll soon have less time to leave it without risking a ticket.

Last week, the Wenatchee City Council adopted an amended ordinance to reduce parking times in the downtown area from three hours to two.

Laura Gloria, executive services director with the City of Wenatchee, says the change was requested by the Wenatchee Downtown Association.

"The request is designed to help with parking turnover. There seems to be a lot of folks who are overstaying their time and there are issues with employees in downtown who are parking in spaces long-term. So the hope is to change it down to two hours in order to have parking still be accessible for folks who want to come to the downtown area to have a bite to eat and do a little shopping."

In addition to the change in time limits, the amended ordinance also included two other items, one of which is the ability for future changes to parking codes in the city to be done directly through the mayor's office without a formal process of the city council.

"Right now, we would need to come to city council with an ordinance or resolution but that can be a little clunky sometimes and it can also take a little extra time, and when there are safety needs we need to be able to move quickly," said Gloria.

The amended ordinance also calls for enforcement in the city's bike lanes.

The changes will officially go into effect on August 1.