Resident Sees 'Coercion' in Church-Parking Survey

Ed Rader opposes the idea of relaxing on-street parking restrictions in Clayton's Davis Place neighborhood in exchange for keeping three houses owned by .

"It's a coercion," Rader said. He is against both the loosening of parking restrictions and the demolition of the buildings, even though he thinks the latter is inevitable.

His comments come following the . It asks residents for their thoughts about the idea of saving the buildings in exchange for looser parking rules. It also allows them to say that the two issues shouldn't be linked. That is the option Rader chose.

Parking at the church has been on Rader's mind for a long time. Since December, he has routinely documented the number of open spaces on the church's two lots.

His conclusion?

"There is no question that there is always available parking up there," Rader said. An upper lot just east of Hanley Road has 79 available spaces, and a lot nearer to the church has 102 spaces, he said. The issue appears to be that some parishioners do not want to use the available lots, instead favoring on-street parking in the Davis Place neighborhood.

He acknowledges that it is more difficult for older church members to walk to the building from the lot east of Hanley Road. But he said the church provides a shuttle service from that lot, and he has made the walk himself.

"And I walk it at a slow pace in one minute and 35 seconds," Rader said. "It's not as though we're asking someone to hike with a pack for 100 miles."

To him, the survey is "pro-church" because it doesn't acknowledge the fact that the city surveyed the neighborhood about parking earlier this year. It concluded that residents overwhelmingly supported increased restrictions, he said.

Debra Rabinovich, the neighborhood's third-year trustee, said this week that she developed the survey in an effort to collect more information for the Clayton Board of Aldermen. Trustees then sent the electronic survey to Davis Place residents, some of whom are church members.

On Sunday mornings and nights, it would be difficult to have guests over because of the number of parishioners parked outside of his home, Rader said. He said he suggested to a parishioner that the church section off a portion of its upper lot for parking during the week, but he's not sure whether that idea will win approval.

Margaret Murphy, a Davis Place resident for 37 years, said she would support loosening parking restrictions, especially on Sundays. Then again, she said, she doesn't live near the church.

"This has been a problem forever," Murphy said about the parking situation. "But we used to always say that when you bought by the church, you knew that you were going to have cars in front of your house."

At the same time, she said, the church has not really been a good neighbor over the years. She characterized the situation as "very disappointing" and said a resolution is up in the air.