Plans for new fire station reshapes downtown Camas

Big changes are coming to downtown Camas’ parking infrastructure.

The upcoming construction of a new fire station will require the removal of 50 parking spaces. The city of Camas proposes to offset that loss by adding 55 parking spaces.

Doing so will require changing the configuration of spaces and altering traffic patterns on a number of streets downtown, said Jim Carothers, the city’s engineering manager, during the Camas City Council’s Feb. 2 workshop session.

The Camas-Washougal Fire Department’s new Station 41 will be constructed on city property at the southwest corner of Northeast Fourth Avenue and Northeast Everett Street, prompting the removal of two parking lots south of the city’s annex building as well as additional spaces on Northeast Everett Street and in the City Hall basement.

During a Jan. 26 public hearing, Camas hearings examiner Joe Turner identified a requirement in city code for approximately 38 parking spaces associated with the fire station. Because the site cannot accommodate passenger vehicle parking, the spaces must be addressed through the surrounding on-street parking system, according to a city staff report.

The city’s Public Works staff proposed to change parallel spaces to diagonal ones on Northeast Dallas, Everett and Franklin streets and Fifth Avenue; limit Northeast Everett Street to one-way northbound traffic between Fourth and Fifth avenues; and limit Northeast Franklin Street to one-way southbound traffic between Fifth and Third avenues. Both city employees and the public would use the reconfigured spaces.

“I think it will really be a benefit to the public because these are public spaces,” said Alan Peters, the city’s community development director. “It’ll be a little bit tighter for the employees.”

The proposed changes will result in more public on-street parking spaces on Dallas and Franklin streets, and Northeast Fourth and Northeast Fifth avenues, according to the city staff report.

Councilor Jennifer Senescu said the plan was “brilliant” and thanked Carothers and Peters for their “thoughtfulness.”

Carrie Schulstad, the executive director of the Downtown Camas Association, said that the proposed new spaces are “needed.”

“We have one-way streets in our downtown already, so people are familiar with how they work,” Schulstad said. “These extra spots which will host city employees during the day will be appreciated by people using downtown and looking for parking in the evening.”

The city is also installing intersection “bulbouts” and lit crossings at the intersections of Third Avenue and Birch Street, and Third Avenue and Cedar Street, Schulstad said, “making it safer and more comfortable to park south of Third, where it is easier to park, and then cross Third into the busier part of downtown.”

“People, of course, would love to find a parking spot immediately when they come downtown, but we have a healthy, active downtown, so that’s not always the case,” she said. “Someday we would very much appreciate a parking garage, and the need is strong as we grow. We will continue to encourage the city to include that in future visioning and plans.”

The council will vote on the proposed one-way street changes on a yet-to-be-determined date, according to Bryan Rachal, the city’s director of communications and public affairs.