Parking Controversy
As many know, parking is a continuing problem in the area, as more and more residents and visitors compete for essentially a fixed number of parking places. The Sunday church parking has recently become a serious issue, as congregants flood the streets for services, sometimes blocking residents from being able to get their own cars in and out.*
Tempers have begun to flair on both sides - residents understandably upset, particularly when they feel that MPD is following an unwritten practice of refusing to issue parking tickets in a discriminatory policy favoring some churches, and churchgoers feeling that their parking practices, which have been followed for decades without dissent, have become an entitlement that should not be overturned.
This problem will be explored at our January 4, 2006 meeting. The Commissioners expect that there will be both affected residents as well as church representatives present. It will be helpful in dealing with highly charged problems like this one to realize that simple solutions are not easy to come by.
Sure, virtually all will agree that laws should be applied evenly throughout the City, and that even churchgoers need to obey the law. But we don't write on a clean slate, and there is a strong feeling among some churchgoers that they need to be able to double park. Reasonable people ought to be able to come to mutually agreeable solutions that permit parishioners to practice their religion in a church many have attended for years (regardless of where they now live) and at the same time do not block residents from their homes.
At the meeting, the ANC expects everyone to keep in mind that the search here is for a solution. Not polemics, not civil strife and recriminations, and not one-upmanship.
Finally, I may add that there is an example of a successful effort to get a parking solution found. Residents of Corcoran street near John Wesleyan Zion Church were at war on the same subject a few years ago. Reverend Shannon, of that Church and his neighbors were able to get to a modus vivendi. It may still not be perfect, but there is understanding, tolerance and patience on both sides. Let's see if we can't achieve the same here.
Charles Reed
* Sometimes, it isn't merely a question of convenience. There have been instances when health or other emergencies have arisen--as when a young child was stranded at school and his grandmother could not get her car out to get him.
Tempers have begun to flair on both sides - residents understandably upset, particularly when they feel that MPD is following an unwritten practice of refusing to issue parking tickets in a discriminatory policy favoring some churches, and churchgoers feeling that their parking practices, which have been followed for decades without dissent, have become an entitlement that should not be overturned.
This problem will be explored at our January 4, 2006 meeting. The Commissioners expect that there will be both affected residents as well as church representatives present. It will be helpful in dealing with highly charged problems like this one to realize that simple solutions are not easy to come by.
Sure, virtually all will agree that laws should be applied evenly throughout the City, and that even churchgoers need to obey the law. But we don't write on a clean slate, and there is a strong feeling among some churchgoers that they need to be able to double park. Reasonable people ought to be able to come to mutually agreeable solutions that permit parishioners to practice their religion in a church many have attended for years (regardless of where they now live) and at the same time do not block residents from their homes.
At the meeting, the ANC expects everyone to keep in mind that the search here is for a solution. Not polemics, not civil strife and recriminations, and not one-upmanship.
Finally, I may add that there is an example of a successful effort to get a parking solution found. Residents of Corcoran street near John Wesleyan Zion Church were at war on the same subject a few years ago. Reverend Shannon, of that Church and his neighbors were able to get to a modus vivendi. It may still not be perfect, but there is understanding, tolerance and patience on both sides. Let's see if we can't achieve the same here.
Charles Reed
* Sometimes, it isn't merely a question of convenience. There have been instances when health or other emergencies have arisen--as when a young child was stranded at school and his grandmother could not get her car out to get him.
