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Articles
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| ‘Dinner party’ problem among glitches in parking plan |
VOICE writes, "By Arthur Delaney
A dozen residents attended the meeting of the Southeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commission earlier this month to complain about the Performance Parking Pilot Plan, which they said poses a significant threat to their "way of life" on the Hill.
Neighbors on the 100 block of E Street SE said the regulations meant to stem Nationals Park traffic prevent them from hosting dinner parties, book clubs and children's birthday parties, since guests from other areas are not permitted to park on their streets long enough for such events.
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Transportation Department deputy associate director Rick Rybeck said the "dinner party issue" was an unintended consequence of the new rules and that the Transportation Department would take it into consideration when revising the policy. Ward 6 D.C. Council member Tommy Wells will host a meeting May 7 at the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church to discuss the new parking rules.
Neighborhood commissioner Ken Jarboe pointed out that parking throughout the neighborhood was already problematic even before the new baseball stadium was constructed. Commissioner David Garrison agreed and said that many neighbors had not realized that the new policy entailed more than the stadium.
Jan Schoonmaker, who lives on E Street SE, called the new rules "an exercise in social engineering" and a "great imposition on our way of life" because the rules will make it difficult for guests to drive over. Other neighbors echoed his complaints. One said the regulations disrupt "the fabric of our social life."
Mark Menard, a co-owner and manager of several bars around the Hill, said he thinks enforcement of new rules every day of the year, not just on game days, is "a little excessive." He also criticized the new time limits and "market-based" prices for parking meters. "The prices are ridiculous," he said.
Southwest residents have similar complaints about life south of the freeway. At a recent Southwest advisory neighborhood commission meeting, residents and commissioners said the parking plan has worked well but that regulations need not extend beyond game days.
Wells introduced the legislation for the pilot program in hopes of not just controlling stadium parking, but sparking a neighborhoodwide reformation of other Hill parking problems. He won his spot on the council with a "livable, walkable community" campaign theme.
Some enterprising neighbors have tried to sell their parking passes online. Transportation Department spokesperson Karen LeBlanc said her agency has already been vigilant about preventing residents from exploiting their passes. She said both Craigslist and eBay agreed not to allow the sale of parking passes.
"When we got close to opening day we were notified that there were two parking listings on Craigslist," she said. "We found out who the person was and contacted them and basically gave the person a warning."
Rybeck thanked neighbors for their criticism at the commission meeting and said the department would consider the problems. But he did not suggest the new parking protocols might be abandoned.
"Life is not the same now as it was before," he said.
Staff writer Ben Weinstein contributed to this report.
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Posted on Apr 25, 2008 20:42pm.
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