The following pertains to an ongoing source of neighborhood tension. As the newly elected neighborhood association president (something you get drafted for and do not seek out) I have finally decided that enough is enough. The gloves are coming off and I am going to stand up to shout my voice...
Dear Coach (name withheld),
As president of the (name withheld) Neighborhood Association, where some of your players live, I wanted to let you know about our latest meeting. We all expressed gratitude that your players participated in the neighborhood cleanup in October. It was nice to see a huge group turn out, all of them on the baseball team. Well done!
Unfortunately, there were many voices of concern over the future of their rented property on (name withheld) Lane. It was pointed out that it's not unusual for there to be 10-13 vehicles (mostly trucks) parked all around their house, including in the front/side yards and the public park adjacent to their parking pad. The grass around the house is dying and turning to mud, even in the public park which is not on their property, and in fact, is owned and landscaped by the (name withheld) Development Corporation.
I have had a terse conversation with one of the tenants, and they have known for several weeks that they are not supposed to be parking on public property. Unfortunately they continue to park on the sodded lawn. Very recently their landlord, (name withheld), reminded them about their parking incivilities. However, when I came home from the opening banquet of scholarship weekend tonight I noticed one of their vehicles parked on the neighborhood park's grass. Still they continue to park there! Every month I attend the (name withheld) Board of Directors meeting which is presided over by the mayor and our president. The parking situation was brought to the attention of the board, and I believe someone from the mayor's office will be paying them a visit, if not already, then soon.
I would like to add that when I stopped by on a Saturday morning (9 AM) a few weeks ago to explain that the landscaped grass they were parking on was not their property, there were 9 trucks and SUVs parked around the house and 6-7 guys laying around the living room. It turns out only one of them actually lived there, and the other 6 were visiting either from campus (3 blocks away) or from out of town, all in their own vehicles. The lone resident appeared sympathetic to my request that they stop parking on the neighborhood park but insisted that they need to have parking for their friends who come over. I pointed out to him that the houses in (name withheld) neighborhood were built for families and other owner-occupied domestic situations. As such, parking is minimal. Each house has parking for 2, maybe 4 vehicles at maximum. However, in the case of those living on (name withheld) Lane, the 6-7 trucks owned by the renters already overburdens the alleyway and common driveway. These new houses in the neighborhood were not meant to be serve as communal dwellings, and they should ask their visitors to walk or carpool over. When the cars of girlfriends, friends from the dorms or fraternities, and those out of town buddies are added nearly every weekend, the result is a SNAFU of their own making. There are four families and 2 elderly residents who are detrimentally impacted weekly by their actions. There is also the unintended consequence of dissuading potential buyers of other new properties in the surrounding blocks.
I ask you to please speak with them again so that they understand this is a grave matter to the home owners invested in (name withheld). The ambition of our neighborhood association is to revitalize this historic area with home ownership thereby creating a family-friendly atmosphere right at the University's front door.
Thank you again for turning players out for our cleanup and for speaking with them several months ago.
Sincerely,
Craig
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Dr. Craig D. Byron
Dept. of (name withheld)
(name withheld)University
(name withheld) Ave.
(name withheld)
Office Hours, (withheld)
phone# (withheld)
fax# (withheld)
email- byron_cd@(name withheld).edu
3 comments:
Way to go! Does your city have a parking ordinance where they can tow the offending vehicles? When Mom and Dad get a call.......
Also, we have worked out with our city the use of parking permits for areas close to our University. Offenders can be ticketed or towed easily that way.
Good luck.
According to P & Z, each tenant is allotted 1.5 spaces, but with six guys living in a three bedroom house, that means they should have 9 spaces. The house was built for a family, and there are only four places. I imagine you all had to deal with similar situations, how did you resolve it?
There are only 2 permits allowed per household, and one hour parking without permit, so police can easily monitor and ticket (or tow). Rationale is that it's a residential neighborhood and 2 cars per household is reasonable. Permits are car & household specific, so sharing is not condoned. One hour parking is easy to monitor. We tried 4 hour parking & that didn't work. Also, the limits are driven by petition of block residents. (Others around us are four hour parking). I will try to find the exact ordinances for you.
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