Looking to exceed Enumclaw’s three-hour street parking time limit? Then prepare for a higher fine.

The local city council approved updated fines during its March 25 meeting, tripling the fine general parking violations from $20 to $60, and increasing the fine for overstaying your parking welcome from $40 to $100.

According to city documents, the old fines were about 20 years old and no longer proportional to the fines of other nearby cities, so they needed to be raised.

The Enumclaw Police Department’s number one call for service are for traffic violations, according to Records Specialist Sarah Taylor; in 2023, the EPD received more than 350 calls.

But only about a third of those were enforced, as the department only issued roughly 130 infractions last year.

“… We strive to educate the public on matters such as these and provide the public with the opportunity to correct the issue before taking punitive action,” Taylor said in an email interview, adding that not all complaints are founded.

It’s unclear how many of those calls and resulting infractions are regarding time limit violations, and enforcement is spotty.

“… We rely heavily on the input from the public. Our officers spend most of their shifts out and about, responding to calls and patrolling the city, ensuring that all public safety needs are met,” Taylor said. “Since we do not have a specific unit assigned to parking, those issues are largely complaint-based and conducted by officers only as time allows.”

An officer will eventually respond to a call about improper parking, she continued, but sometimes this is after the vehicle in question has left the area, since EPD’s priority are emergency and public safety calls.

“We find that the public, and often businesses, are much more aware of the amount of time cars have been parked on the streets, and we encourage them to call whenever they notice an infraction,” she said.