Easing parking, vehicle speed in Caldart Heights

Published 4:52 pm Thursday, February 25, 2016

By TERRYL ASLA
North Kitsap Herald

POULSBO — Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson and Caldart Heights residents were meeting to talk about an experimental parking plan for the  neighborhood when talk turned toward vehicle speed.

Residents began telling the mayor about drivers speeding through the neighborhood, especially on Watland Street, and two mothers said they were afraid to let their children play outside unsupervised.

The moms were especially concerned about the blind corner right before the crosswalk leading to the neighborhood playground, where this meeting was taking place Feb. 13.

At that moment, two cars sped around the blind corner and whipped through the crosswalk and into the curve beyond.

“We-e-e-ell, yes,” Erickson drawled, watching them go. “I think I see your problem.”

Unfortunately for those speeders, Erickson apparently recognized the cars. “I know who they are and I’ll deal with them,” she promised, sounding more like an angry parent than a public official. “Let me deal with them.”

Several of the homeowners asked why the city couldn’t put in a speed bump at the playground crossing.

“That’s probably not going to happen,” Erickson said. “It costs the city $10,000 to install one and that’s just not likely to happen.”

What she could do immediately, she promised, is have what she called “a little yellow man” sign put in the middle of the crosswalk; she cited examples of the sign’s effectiveness downtown. She also promised she would have motorcycle police begin patrolling the area.

Despite rain and finger-numbing cold, 11 members of the homeowners association gathered at the neighborhood playground at 2 p.m. to meet with the mayor.

According to homeowners association officers, parking wasn’t much of a problem until home construction “really took off” in 2011. Since then, parking on the narrow streets has become a major issue.

“The too-narrow streets here are a long-term problem I inherited,” Erickson said. (Development of the subdivision started in 2000.)

“I’m sure the original plan met code at the time, but it didn’t allow for guest or visitor parking,” she said.

The homeowners association brought its problem to the city’s attention in August. At first, Erickson said she was told nothing could be done; the city does not usually get involved with defining neighborhood parking because of the costs.

“But first and foremost, I was convinced that this was a public safety issue,” Erickson said. “Emergency vehicles have to be able to get through the streets, the post office won’t deliver the mail if a car is parked in front of the mailboxes, and the garbage men have to be able to pick up the trash. So, city engineering staff were sent out to measure the streets and find out where we could legally have parking.”

The new parking plan will restrict parking to one side of NE Watland Street between 12th and Caldart avenues. No parking will be allowed on either side of the street on Wapato Lane  NE or NE Odessa Way. Additionally, NE Fontaine Way will become a one-way street with parking on one side only.

Police don’t normally patrol residential areas for parking violations, so if someone is parking in a no-parking zone, it will be up to residents to notify police.

Erickson called the plan an experiment, as it is the first of its kind in the city. “Your neighborhood is actually changing policy for the whole city. What’s done here will be applied to other neighborhoods where we have similar problems,” she said.

Erickson said installing new signs and painting the curbs red will be done just as soon as weather improves. Her future plans for helping address the parking problem include asking Highmark Homes, LLC/MTT Holdings, Inc., the developer, to add additional parking on Caldart Avenue as part of the new housing project it has started building right across the street.

“It’s a start,” said one homeowner as the meeting broke up. “It’s a good start.”

The moms were especially concerned about the blind corner right before the crosswalk leading to the neighborhood playground, where this meeting was taking place Feb. 13. At that moment, two cars sped around the blind corner and whipped through the crosswalk and into the curve beyond. Photo: Terryl Asla / Herald