Consultants studying parking in the Town of Kensington recommended shorter time limits on two commercial blocks, clearer signs and one handheld enforcement device at an online community meeting on Oct. 21. No vote was held, and the town has not adopted any of the recommendations.
The town’s Parking Task Force is working with Walker Consultants on the study, according to the town’s website, and shared initial findings at a first community forum on July 13. A Walker Consultants presenter said the goal is to “make the existing parking system operate more efficiently” without wholesale changes, because the town has a limited budget.
What the Study Found
A Walker Consultants presenter said the study found substantial available parking across the study area, but not evenly distributed. “Parking pressure is real but it is highly localized,” the presenter said.
The presenter listed three findings: public lots had open capacity while nearby curbs were full; some corridors had cars parked longer than weekday limits; and posted limits and enforcement hours did not match peak activity.
What the Written Report Shows
Walker’s final report, dated Oct. 15 and included in the town’s Oct. 21 agenda packet, counted 2,895 parking spaces in the study area: 953 on street, 214 in six public lots and 1,728 in private lots. Walker counted occupancy on Wednesday, May 13, and Saturday, May 16, and ran license plate turnover surveys on June 3 and June 6.
Overall occupancy was low. On-street spaces peaked at 25 percent full on Wednesday afternoon and 35 percent on Saturday afternoon, and public lots peaked at 58 percent on Wednesday afternoon. System-wide occupancy ranged from 28 percent to 45 percent. Pressure showed up on four-hour curb spaces, which the report says rose from 65 percent to 84 percent full on Wednesday evening and reached 84 percent on Saturday afternoon.
Overstays were concentrated on Fawcett Street, where 31 percent of vehicles on one four-hour segment and 20 percent on another stayed past the limit. Kensington Parkway had the lowest turnover measured, 0.43 vehicles per space with an average stay of 2.33 hours, which the report attributes to longer-duration demand, not noncompliance. Howard Avenue performed well.
The report names ten priority corridors, including Fawcett Street, Mitchell Street, Kensington Parkway, Kent Street, Howard Avenue and the Kensington Crossing lot at 10619 Connecticut Ave. It lists Kensington Crossing, Johnson’s Shopping Center, Kensington Shopping Center, Baby Cat Brewery and the farmers market as the main demand generators.
Two development projects could change demand. Walker recommends the town ask Montgomery County Public Schools for a site plan, enrollment projections and a parking demand estimate for its planned facility at 10400 Detrick Ave. For a proposed 19-townhome project at 10410 Kensington Parkway, the report says approvals are anticipated in 2026 and construction could start in 2027, and recommends the town monitor curbside conditions nearby.
What Walker Recommends
The presenter said the plan rests on three strategies: clearer communication, wayfinding and signage; modern enforcement technology; and curbside management.
On signs, the presenter recommended a single mobile-friendly parking page, a homepage parking link and a sign inventory. The presenter proposed a common weekday sign window of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., because some signs now show 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. end times, and moving enforcement hours from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. to 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
On enforcement, the presenter recommended buying one handheld system after confirming it works with the town’s permit records and Montgomery County’s citation processing. The presenter said the town has one code enforcement officer who spends about 80 percent of the time on code duties and about 20 percent on parking, so added evening coverage could mean part-time help, not a new full-time position.
For curbs, the presenter recommended converting commercially adjacent 4-hour spaces on Kensington Parkway and Fawcett Street to 2-hour spaces, and adding a 15-minute space on Howard Avenue for takeout and pickups. On Kent Street, which the presenter said is about 25.5 feet wide with a highest observed occupancy of about 68 percent, the plan calls for management and communication changes first, then about 90 days of observation before any added restrictions. The presenter also recommended one or two shared-parking pilots lasting 6 to 12 months.
The presenter said near-term actions fall within the next 12 months, paid parking and employee permits are options only if lower-cost steps fall short, and cost figures in the plan are planning allowances, not bids or adopted budgets.
The report prices the steps as planning allowances. Handheld citation equipment is $10,000 to $12,000 in the first year, then $4,000 to $5,000 annually. Converting four-hour spaces to two-hour spaces is about $2,000 to $7,500, and standardizing weekday time-limit hours is about $3,000 to $10,000. A wayfinding and sign program, a mid-term item, is $20,000 to $60,000. A parking-focused ADA self-assessment is $25,000 to $100,000, depending on scope. On paid parking, the executive summary says the data does not support systemwide paid parking.
Questions From Council Members and Residents
Council Member Nate Engle called the recommendations “very logical and achievable” and asked how much of the cost ticket revenue could offset. A presenter said that analysis was not in the report, that quick math suggested revenue would not cover the costs, and that calculations would follow within about a week.
Asked what would signal that paid parking should be studied, a presenter said on-street spaces would need to be regularly filled to about 85 percent and off-street lots to 85 to 90 percent.
A Walker consultant said a full Americans with Disabilities Act self-evaluation requires a specialist consultant, and that the City of Fairfax set a budget of about $250,000 for its evaluation, which also covers buildings. The study did not include one, a presenter said, but noted the town could possibly add a van-accessible space at public Lot 19.
Joe Campbell, a member of the town’s Parking Task Force, said he was “disappointed not to find any substantive discussion” of short illegal stops by delivery and contractor vehicles beyond a listing on page 17 of the report. Another Walker consultant said regular enforcement would help, but some delivery services pay the ticket and continue. “That’s just the cost of doing business to them,” the consultant said.
What’s Next
The Parking Task Force will meet with town staff in the next few weeks to decide what to propose to the Town Council, and the proposals will need to fit into the town’s budget process. The recording did not give a meeting date.
