Coupeville provides disabled parking

Disabled shoppers will finally have somewhere to park on historic Front Street in Coupeville.

To improve access for disabled shoppers, town workers are painting a handicapped spot on the side of Front Street near the Penn Cove Gallery.

Mayor Nancy Conard said the handicap spot is to respond to residents’ concerns about the lack of such parking in downtown Coupeville.

Once the parking stall is painted, officials will monitor it for the next month or so. If it looks like a second stall is needed, then it will go in on the other side of Front Street near Collections Boutique.

Conard said those two spots were chosen because they offer the easiest way for disabled people to reach the sidewalk.

The Coupeville Town Council talked about parking in downtown during their Tuesday evening meeting on Dec. 8.

Councilman Bob Clay said that it appeared that two handicap spots in Coupeville might give the downtown a high ratio of such spots.

However, Conard said their isn’t a set standard for downtown disabled parking.

The council members seemed to favor the new spots, but didn’t take a vote either way.

“The more parking spots for disabled the better,” Councilwoman Ann Dannhauer said.

Tuesday’s discussion morphed into a chat about the available parking in downtown Coupeville, which some people have complained for years is insufficient.

One possible places to increase parking is to transform the lot where the recently demolished Johnson Building or the fields next to Town Hall into parking lots.

However, council member Bob Clay was totally against using those two lots for parking. He would prefer to see the municipal parking lot, which is located next to the library, further developed.

There would have to be some alterations made to the library area lot to make it more attractive for people, especially those who want to use it at night.

“The lighting is the greatest concern and a legitimate one,” Conard said in an interview after the meeting.

Contact Whidbey News Times Staff reporter Nathan Whalen at nwhalen@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5058.

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