Lomita parking permits revisited

CITY HALL — In September, a number of residents from the 300 block of Lomita Street rose one by one to the City Council podium to ask that the council place parking restrictions on their residential street because of constructionparking.

The council denied their request but revisited the idea of residential parking permits Tuesday evening, unanimously approving a motion that gives council members greater flexibility to modify the parking permit process for residential streets.

The council can now fast-track the process by which residents can apply for neighborhood parking restrictions or modify time limits.

A fast-tracked process would come only after an unusual situation occurs on a street, Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford said.

“A unique situation would be construction on a street from a nearby development,” or lots of cars from a nearby commercial zone, she said.

There are a number of permits the city can institute, said Ken Johnson, assistant public works director and traffic engineer.

“The least restrictive is two hours with permits for residents,” he said. “The most restrictive is residential-only parking. Those residents who wish to have resident-only parking have to file a petition that gets 80% of the neighborhood’s approval.”

That number might be a little high, Councilman David Gordon said.

“I understand the need for it, but the requirements are pretty stringent,” he said.

The city arrived at the number to ensure neighborhood harmony, Johnson said.

“We want to ensure that communities are all behind any certain restriction,” he said. “We want to make sure there is support. We don’t want to divide neighborhoods.”

While the council unanimously issued its intent to change the restrictions as needed, opinions varied about how permits would be handed out.

Three permits are issued per household, and residents are free to hand them to whomever they wish, Johnson said. Gordon cautioned that such a free flow could result in permits ending up in the wrong hands.

“People could make a deal to sell to commercial owners, or rent it out and sell it,” he warned.

But Councilman Dave Golonski stressed that such practices are rare.