(Andrew Harnik/Examiner)
Valets wait for customers in front of Zaytinya in Chinatown. The District is considering a proposal that would allow private businesses, such as restaurants, to rent city parking spaces for use as pick-up and drop-off points for their valet parking services. Residents have 30 days to comment on the plan.

Joe Rogalsky, The Examiner
2007-06-22 07:00:00.0
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Restaurants and other businesses in the District of Columbia will be able to lease public parking spaces to use as staging areas for their valet services under a program the city could implement in September.

The District Department of Transportation is considering regulations to create valet parking staging zones where customers could pick up or drop off their vehicles.

Alice Kelly, a DDOT program manager, said the agency began considering creating the zones three years ago. Chief among the complaints they heard:

» Citizens objected to valets trying to commandeer public spaces.

» Restaurants were upset that customers found using valet services difficult.

» City police reported issuing numerous tickets to vehicles that were double-parked while awaiting a valet.

“The situation had gotten out of control,” Kelly told The Examiner. “The concern was that valet parking is in no way regulated.”

Interested businesses would have to apply for a permit from the city before renting parking spots. Spaces will be leased for $15 a square foot, with the average space costing $2,400 a year.

The city will lease metered spots and, in some cases, loading zones that are not used during afternoons and evenings.

The District does not have an estimate for how many spaces its expects to lease, but establishments that rent metered spots will have to reimburse the city for the lost revenue. Lon Anderson, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said the space-rental program could benefit downtown businesses and diners coming into the District from Maryland and Virginia by making valet parking easier. More valet parking will also keep vehicles from occupying the metered spaces for several hours at a time, he added, keeping those spaces available for city residents or visitors that only need to park for 30 or 45 minutes.

“People do not mind paying for valet parking if it is convenient,” he said.

The public has 30 days to comment on the plan (available at www.ddot.dc.gov). If the District does not have to make substantive changes to its proposal after the comment period, the regulations will take effect in September, Kelly said.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com