Parking Enforcement

The effective enforcement of parking regulations is an important factor in maintaining a vibrant retail, business and tourist environment. These enforcement areas are primarily located in the Central Business District of downtown Kirkland.                                     

The Kirkland Police Department Traffic Unit currently uses an "electronic chalking” system. The system uses a “license plate recognition” (LPR) system that operates through a lap top computer and a camera installed in the Parking Enforcement vehicle. It captures an image of the vehicle license plate with a date and time-stamp. 

When time expires on the image it captures (depending on the time limit of a particular lot or on-street space), the Parking Enforcement Officer (PEO) will return to check the vehicle’s status. 

Any vehicle that is parked beyond the time limit will cause the LPR system to alarm upon the PEO’s return.

Upon the PEO’s return, if the time has expired and the vehicle remains in the space or if the vehicle is parked in space that is not paid for, a citation will be issued.

Parking citations must be responded to within 15 days of the ticket being issued.

The City strives to provide convenient and accessible parking for customers and visitors by offering free, time-limited, handicapped, and pay parking. Please help our community achieve the full benefits of public parking by parking responsibly.