Council Passes on Parking Summit

If there is any lesson that can be taken away from this week's City Council, it's that parking in College Heights is a nuclear issue. The College Heights Civic Association refuses to meet with representatives from Elder Study Institute to discuss allowing its students to park on residential streets near the University of Mary Washington. Students at ESI are mostly retirees in their 70's. As a result of already tight parking near the campus, they are frequently forced to walk blocks from their parked cars to their classes, sometimes under dangerous conditions. 

"We are the only senior group on campus," said Carol Hanus, president of ESI's governing board. She told the council that the maximum enrollment in ESI classes is 50, with an average of 22 students attending in a given day. "The impact on the streets within College Heights would be negligible."

Meredith Beckett, president of the CHCA, disagreed. She argued that city ordinances did not provide for the issuance of special, ongoing parking privileges for special group and any such exceptions would set a "dangerous precedent for the neighborhood".

The City Council backed up CHCA's standoffish attitude, voting 5-2 to defeat a measure brought by Ward 2 Councilor George Solley which would have directed staff to arrange a meeting between the neighborhood association, ESI and UMW to merely discuss the matter. In a memo to City Council, Solley laid out his rationale for holding such a meeting, saying that the administrators at ESI have been trying in good faith to find a solution to the problem for two years only to have their concerns directed from university officials, to city staff and finally to the CHCA, which has given them the silent treatment. 

"The result has been that a small group of our elderly citizens, trying to enrich their lives through learning, have not even received an adequate hearing, much less any real help from those who have the ability to address their need," said Solley. 

The proposed parking summit was vigorously opposed by the CHCA, which seemed to think that Solley's measure was an outright proposed modification of residential parking zones in College Heights. Indeed, on June 9, the CHCA board sent a letter to the City Council announcing that it was "unanimously and emphatically opposed" to a "request by the Elder Study Institute for special parking permits in the resident parking only designated streets in College Heights."

This misunderstanding of Solley's motion was perhaps exacerbated by a lack of documentation provided with the distributed agenda for this past council meeting. Nevertheless, during deliberations on the matter Solley found it necessary at two points to clarify that his motion sought only a meeting between the vested parties. 

Despite this, Solley's proposal found little support with council. Only Ward 1 Councilor Brad Ellis joined Solley in voting for the measure. 

"I am a fan of encouraging people to get together to talk to arrive at a solution," said Ellis. 

Echoing the encroachment fears of the CHCA, At-Large Councilor Kerry Devine, herself a College Heights resident, argued that any exceptions would weaken the existing parking protections. 

"It has taken decades for College Heights to get to a point where residential parking is an option," said Devine. "I think it's a step backwards for a program which has worked successfully in that neighborhood."

Ward 3 Councilor Fred Howe was also strongly opposed to the measure, which falls within his ward. He argued that the ESI board address their concerns with university officials, saying that this is another example of the school trying to pawn its parking problems off on the city. 

Ward 4 Councilor Bea Paolucci said she changed her mind on the issue after she considered the legal implications of allowing an exception. She agreed with the CHCA that the city's parking code would only allow for temporary parking passes for residential areas, a category she didn't think applied for ESI students. 

"It's our laws, it's our ordinances," said Paolucci. "If you want to change the ordinaces, then fine, let's change those, but don't piecemeal it in…we need to be consistent in our applications."

This is the second time in recent history that potential changes to residential parking in College Heights have been shot down. In April, from the council agenda after sparking a small uproar among residents.