New Year's Eve Seattle parking ticket leads to class-action suit

A $700,000 class-action lawsuit was filed against the city of Seattle on Tuesday for issuing parking tickets and collecting money from parking meters the day before and the day after holidays.

Colette Turner, of Bellevue, claims in the lawsuit that she was ticketed in Seattle on Friday, Dec. 31, 2004, even though according to city law, she should have been allowed to park free that New Year's Eve day. "We're going to try to get the city to refund the money it made from the parking-meter revenue, reimburse people for the parking tickets they were forced to pay and reimburse them for any towing fees," said Turner's attorney, Dewelle Ellsworth.

According to the law at the time, people could park free on city streets the day after Thanksgiving, the Friday before a holiday that fell on a Saturday, and the Monday after a holiday that fell on a Sunday. Meters and signs did not list those days as free even though they were, and the city issued tickets, Ellsworth said.

He does not know how many tickets were issued those days but calculated the $700,000 based on average ticket and meter revenues.

Now, parking is no longer free the Friday after Thanksgiving or the Friday before a Saturday holiday.

Turner paid her ticket. This year she filed a lawsuit, which she later withdrew.

She refiled Tuesday in King County Superior Court, saying the city had collected parking revenue on at least eight days when parking should have been free: Nov. 28, 2003; July 5, Nov. 26, Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, 2004; Nov. 25 and Dec. 26, 2005; and Jan. 2, 2006.

City Attorney Tom Carr said as he understands it, the city had the authority to issue the tickets. He added, "When you get a parking ticket, you get a hearing and you can either challenge it or not. If people had challenged it, the court might have waived the payment."

In September, the City Council changed which days people could park free "to make it consistent," Carr said. At the time, a report to the council said if the law was not changed, "the City is at risk of future claims and lawsuits." The council also approved $10,000 to change parking signs.

Although street parking will not be free this Friday, it will be free on Mondays after Sunday holidays, on Sundays and on holidays. Those holidays include New Year's Day, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com