This goes back a ways.


Light-rail commuters can park all day in pay lots in Rainier Valley after all, under a policy change announced in a news release Monday by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.

McGinn said the city will suspend enforcement of an ordinance that prevents all-day parking in lots near Link stations.

The parking limits were put in place to encourage mixed-use, densely populated development near the stations so people would walk to them, a long-term goal the mayor still supports, said spokesman Mark Matassa. A second reason was that when the stations were being planned, city officials promised neighborhoods the stations would not result in a flood of new traffic. Restricting parking, the reasoning went, would achieve that goal.

But until the economy rebounds, and the new development arrives, McGinn said, "It's good for local businesses and commuters to be flexible now" so the city should allow paid all-day parking in existing lots.