By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Seattle neighborhoods will not be getting any new residential parking zones, or RPZs, any time soon.

Earlier this year the Seattle Department of Transportation, known as SeaTran, stopped implementing new RPZs due to budget shortfalls from I-722, the Tim Eyman-sponsored initiative which limited the City's ability to raise property taxes and nullified some tax and fee increases from 1999. At the time, Bill Jack, a manager with SeaTran, said that if the courts overturned I-722 the funding for RPZs would be back, and in September the Supreme Court of Washington did throw it out.

However, according to Steve Viney, manager with SeaTran, about $3.4 million dollars were taken out of SeaTran's budget and placed in escrow, in the event that I-722 was upheld and taxes would have to be returned. However, rather than going back to its original purpose, that money will replace funds that would have been collected from sales, admission and business-and-occupation taxes. Thanks to the sagging economy, those revenue sources are down.

Other SeaTran programs are loosing out as well. Viney said that the budget for arterial and sidewalk paving and other pedestrian improvements have been cut. The Mayor's proposed 2002 budget does not include funding for new RPZs.

Residential Parking Zones, or RPZs, are a tool Seattle neighborhoods rely on to assure that residents have a place to park on their own block. They are necessary in many neighborhoods because Seattle's businesses, recreational areas and other amenities attract more people than just the neighbors - they often lure patrons from throughout the region. During certain hours, RPZs limit the amount of time visitors can park on certain streets.

It can cost $10,000 or more to implement new RPZs including purchasing signs and permits. New RPZs had been proposed for both Fremont and Phinney Ridge, the latter being a neighborhood which for years has felt heavy impacts from the Woodland Park Zoo's shortage of on sight parking.

Organizers of the Phinney Ridge RPZ declined to comment on the City's decision. Not only is the staggering economy taking chunks out of the City's budget, but Eyman isn't through yet. If his newest property tax-limiting initiative, I-747, passes on Nov. 6, it could reduce the City's budget yet again.

For more information, call SeaTran at 684-7623. (