April 19, 2006
Church Parking Enforcement Pushed Back
It seems that the Lord really is on their side. Church-goers have gotten a brief reprieve on a promised city crackdown on their Sunday double-parking habits, reports the Washington Times.
We wrote yesterday that the District would start ticketing the controversial double-parkers on April 23, but the Times is indicating that the enforcement date has been pushed back to May 21 for Logan Circle and July 1 for the rest of the city. The delay is being blamed on weather conditions that have not allowed the city to move forward with marking new lanes and adding new on-street parking spaces in Logan Circle, the neighborhood which will serve as a pilot for the rest of the District. States the article:
Officials said unacceptable weather conditions delayed lane marking in Logan Circle, where the new arrangement had been scheduled to take effect this month. Signs have been installed and the painting began yesterday. Multiple days of clear conditions are required for the paint to adhere properly, officials said...Officials said the Logan Circle design will add 77 permanent and 78 Sunday-only parking spaces by reconfiguring some lines and allowing parking next to medians...Notices about the Logan Circle enforcement will be distributed to parishioners and residents starting Sunday, Miss LeBlanc said, and citywide warnings will be issued in mid-June.Area churches are still planning on rallying this Sunday at 2 p.m. in Logan Circle against the crackdown, and are currently circulating a petition asking that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams delay any enforcement plans for a year.
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Not so much the Lord but the weather. I wouldn't call a month delay a miracle. A magic free parking garage or lot appearing somewhere, now, that would be something.
Let's give credit where it's due: Walker Memorial Baptist (on 13th near U) now has a banner outside advertising a Sunday shuttle service for parishoners from a Howard U. lot. I never thought the Sunday parking there was as bad as what I've seen near other churches (Metropolitan, especially), but they're on top of it already.
Kudos to Walker Memorial Baptist, then. It's nice to see them taking responsibility for their own issues, and serving as a role model for the other churches.
I have no understanding of this issue at all except what I just read in DCist. Is it correct to say that these churches think double parking should be okay for them? Special exception, in other words? For the length of a whole service, or is this just like picking people up? If they think their churchgoers should be allowed to double on-street park for a whole service they're nuts!
Welcome to our world, Jimbo. That's pretty much exactly what these Churches expect. They're argument is that this is what has been happening for years and that the Churches were there first so the people complaining should just shut up. The pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church urges the residents to be "good neighbors" with respect to parking. If you read some other threads as well as other DCist posts, you'll see that he is not interested in returning the favor. The more I hear about this guy from people outside of this forum, the more I dislike him.
If it were people double parking for a sporting event or a concert, would the police be as lenient? Parking is a problem in almost every major city in the U.S., but breaking the law hardly sounds like the answer. Maybe Logan Circle residents should do what people in Boston were doing a year ago: Place old furniture and junk in the spaces to keep people from parking there. Of course, then they'll get fined for littering :)
Quid pro quo: the city will let the churchgoers double-park if other churches in the city will not quash restaurant liquor licenses just cause they're nearby. Didn't that happen to a promising new Ethiopian place around U St?
matt, the problem with using furniture, etc., to keep our church-going friends from double parking would be that we'd be putting furniture out in the travel lanes of the street.
either way, i used to live across the street from walker memorial on 13th, and there was never a parking problem there. they blocked off the parking spaces in front of the church on sunday mornings for parishoner use only, but no one minded that. they didn't double park. now, i live in logan, and the difference is quite visible. the double parking is endemic.
anyway, how big do you think the sunday 2pm deal in the circle will be? i'd still like to show up to counter folks there.
Speaking of which, Jimbo, does anyone have any more information on the BeBar license issue? When does it go before the ANC? And for that matter, what's happening with Vegetate? I swear, any effort to make these neighborhoods more liveable is met with such opposition. Would the Churches prefer the hookers and drug deals take over the neighborhoods again?
EAW,
Be Bar's hearing was today.
"Would the Churches prefer the hookers and drug deals take over the neighborhoods again?"
ha! we still have those, so count yourself lucky.
It cracks me up that these churches use "we've always done it this way" as their excuse. I believe that's what was said about slavery, segregation, men-only clubs, etc. Funny how irony works.
I love the quote about VA & MD not remembering any inclement weather. Me neither...just lots of talk about the .02" of rain we got & how March was officially the driest March ever in DC. Expect this to drag on for years.
EAW
Sadly, in the case of Shiloh, that appears to be the case. Hookers and drug dealers keep the property values down, allowing for Shiloh to scoop up dirt cheap real estate to turn into parking lots. urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com has some details on how houses of worship can be antithetical to urban renewal.
Nope, I have no info, just read about it in DCist. All the ABC proceedings I hear about in the city drive me nuts because I'm a mid-20s renter and the MAJORITY of the ABC deals I see usually involve homeowners tail-twisting restaurants in their neighborhoods to get their liquor licenses approved. The Mount Pleasant Neighbors Association (maybe be Alliance) where I live is particularly fascistic when it comes to forcing a restaurant to sign a "voluntary agreement" (HA! irony.). from what I understand, at least in Mt P, whenever licenses are up for renewal the MPNA basically lodges a formal objection to every one, and only agrees to withdraw it when the restaurant signs the "voluntary agreement," which usually contain all sorts of non-alcohol consumption related requirements like no live music, etc. I'm not a big fan of Marx Cafe in Mt P or its owner, but there was one situation I read about where they had a poetry reading, one of the "poets" strummed an acoustic gee-tar along with her reading, and some neighbor complained and was able to get the poetry night or whatever canceled because the "voluntary agreement" Marx had to sign did not permit "live music" on the night of the contested reading. Not much different from when I lived in Gtown and the residents their kept their foot on the necks of the students living off-campus... not that the students were always the best neighbors!
Jimbo, I bartended in G'town for years, so I'm all-too familiar with the hoops bars must go to in order to appease the neighbors. Although I think the voluntary agreements basically castrate the bars, it helps create peace and harmony in the neighborhood and at least gets the bars opened.
That's a different situation that what Be Bar is facing. The Churches are out and out discriminating against Be Bar because it will be a gay establishment. Read the Blade article (April 7, I believe) about this issue. The pastor at Scripture Cathedral went so far as to lie and say that a representative of Be Bar approached him in a hostile manner and told him that neighborhood people would not be welcome. When pressed on his claim, the pastor could neither identify the representative or identify him.
By the way, I apologize for getting off-topic.
I love that city officials don't have the balls to do what is right. Makes you wonder what morons elected them ... oh, right us. Damnit.
Y'know, I used to think that this sort of thing was the price one paid for living in the city, but one Sunday morning my wife had to go to the hospital and my car was blocked in by people at Shiloh. We called 911 but had to meet the ambulance at the corner because it couldn't get down our street.
Now I'm a believer. It's about public safety. Where's a jersey wall when you need one?
WJDP? (Would Jesus Double Park?)
A photo illustrating the double parkers was posted on dcbubble
http://dcbubble.blogspot.com/2006/04/good-news-no-one-is-happy-in-logan.html
Residents in Logan Circle are recommending that everyone send a letter to city officials demanding that the city NOT delay its religious parking policy -- which merely calls for everyone, residents and parishioners alike, to obey the laws and respect the neighborhoods and communities -- and to proceed with the planned Sunday traffic enforcement, which is currently set to begin with warning notices on April 23 and ticket issuance on May 21. It is also recommended that you email all of your friends and colleagues and ask them to write in as well. The main point to make is that the "new policy" merely enforces parking regulations that have been on the books for years and creates a situation where everyone is treated equally AND that the existing situation and proposal by this coalition of churches unfairly and unlawfully provides greater rights to parishioners (most of whom, by the coalition's own admission, are from out of state) over and above tax-paying DC residents.
Your comments should be sent to William Howland, Director of DPW, and Michelle Pourciau, Director of DDOT, at the following email addresses:
William.howland@dc.gov
michelle.pourciau@dc.gov
In addition, the following email addresses should be copied:
douglas.noble@dc.gov
ann.simpson-mason@dc.gov
Ramona.Burns@dc.gov
ann.simpson-mason@dc.gov
mayor@dc.gov
george.carr@dc.gov
marco.santiago@dc.gov
charles.ramsey@dc.gov
The below email was sent to city officials yesterday from Logan residents:
Dear Mr. Howland and Ms. Pourciau:
It has come to our attention that local clergy have formed a coaliton to fight the city's newly released parking policy and the plan to begin Sunday enforcement of parking laws, including around local churches.
Incredibly, these clergy plan to ask the city to delay for 6 months to a year the policy and enforcement while they seek to attain greater parking rights for their parishioners (most of whom, by the coalition's own admission, are from out of state) and to reduce the time to which residential parking zones apply. Basically, these tax-exempt organizations continue to refuse to provide parking for their membership and for their activities, as do all other businesses in the city, and seek to continue and expand upon greater rights for parishioners than tax-paying DC residents.
As you are aware, a great deal of work and negotiation has gone into creating a solution in the Logan Circle neighborhood -- where many churches are located, none of which during their 100 plus years of existence has taken the time to act responsibly and build parking facilities -- which benefits both residents and parishioners alike. Please note that any suspension of the new parking policy or delay in the promised April 23 enforcement will severely damage the progress that has been made and will lead to serious backlash from the tax-paying, voting residents of this city.
Please also note that if parking enforcement is delayed beyond the April 23 deadline, we plan to approach every local ANC, every local non-christian religious institution, every local business organization, and the American Civil Liberties Union to form a coalition demanding that the city immediately cease and desist from providing greater rights to out-of-town parishioners over local tax paying residents and businesses and to investigate the immediate commencement of litigation to address the city's violation of separation of church and state requirements of the U.S. Constitution. To date, business organizations have not truly weighed in on this issue. However, if the city caves under pressure from this select group of churches, local businesses will be asked to consider why they are required to provide parking to get zoning and construction permits but churches bringing many times more traffic into communities (and not paying taxes) are provided yet another unfair advantage and benefit.
Accordingly, we sincerely hope that your agencies and the city will stand by their promises to begin enforcing the parking laws equally as of April 23, without preferential treatment for members of a specific religious denomination, and to cease and desist from giving church parishioners greater rights than tax-paying DC residents and businesses -- who are your real constituents! If the city simply treats everyone the same, it will be on much safer footing -- legal and otherwise -- than if it tries to create a preferred class of religious institutions to the detriment of the city's own residents and businesses.
Your prompt attention to this matter will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Logan Residents for Equitable Enforcement of Parking Regulations
When does Metro move out of the Logan area?
Excellent letter, TDL. Can we all just copy and paste it in our e-mails to the aforementioned DC officials? Ah, the lazy man's activism!
The laughable "bad weather' excuse aside, it's pretty clear that parking regs will soon be enforced around churches in Logan and elsewhere. The residents' big picture and long-term goal here have been accomplished.
At this point, it would be politically-savvy to allow these churches to save face by giving them that tiny bit of extra time. Not doing so, and needlessly persuing an aggressive confrontational approach, may well have unintended consequences (blowback) in the upcoming city-wide council and mayoral elections.
Again- it's a done deal- Logan residents will get what they need. They should now demonstrate good will and forsight, and not risk shooting themselves (and others in the city) in the foot.
Mark, I'm agnostic on the parking issue, but one should never ever assume anything is a done deal in this city--the stupid stadium posturing proved that the Council will do anything to avoid making a tough decision for as long as possible. The bureaucracy and the police are no different. Unless you press constantly for immediate results, nothing will get done and you'll have to start the debate all over again in six months.
What happened in Logan is a win-win for everyone. It created 150 much-needed new parking spaces for use by residents and parishioners. To the benefit of the residents, the changes to traffic patterns and parking signage (use of angle parking) has effectively made double parking impossible. To the benefit of church parishioners, additional spaces have been created in front of the church that are not time-restricted, allowing street parking for persons working at the churches or for church events on weekdays that exceed 2 hours.
What I find frustrating about Sunday's rally is that the churches that are organizing the protest would better serve themselves and their cause by recognizing that everyone ... including the churches and parishioners ... will benefit by the changes in Logan and should use what we have done here as a model for other communities.
Just a thought ...
hmmm....
_______________________
LexisNexis™ Academic
Copyright 2005 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Chicago Sun Times
October 30, 2005 Sunday
Final Edition
SECTION: CONTROVERSY; Pg. B5
LENGTH: 348 words
HEADLINE: Lost in translation Tire-less activism: Got an SUV? Watch out for the Deflators
BYLINE: Todd Hymas, Grist Magazine
BODY:
Most every cyclist who's rolled alongside cars for any amount of time knows the feeling, the one that makes you pump your fist at that driver who nearly ran you over, or that one whose tailpipe is emptying its contents into your face, or the one whose emissions are melting that glacier you liked so much (anger rising, rising). It's this sort of frustration that makes regular bicycle commuters and eco-conscious citizens of all stripes regularly curse outright at aggressive, too-large-vehicle drivers: "You just wait. You'll get yours."
Now some activists in France are dishing out those just desserts to a growing number of SUV drivers in wealthy neighborhoods in the form of empty, but undamaged, tires. The Deflators (or les Degonfles), a group of French SUV-dislikers tired of the massive vehicles clogging Paris' streets, have been quietly deflating SUV tires in the dark of night. Repeatedly.
And without damaging the vehicles, it's essentially just setting free the air within, they argue, but with amusing side effects.
It's not all late-night pranks, though. Their masked leader has braved a televised debate with the president of the French SUV-owners association and is apparently working on some sort of a movement anthem, set to appear as both a children's song and a dance mix (oh, those savvy French).
Though the Deflators, who also often post fliers and smear mud on the targeted vehicles, have been in touch with sympathizers and potential deflators on this side of the Atlantic, it seems the mischievous Parisians have much less cultural inertia to overcome than their American counterparts in their quest to spread the message that SUVs sucketh throughout the land, what with openly SUV-hostile city officials and a national SUV-owner tax. Also, SUVs in France, according to the Los Angeles Times, make up only about 5 percent of the market, whereas Americans would be up to their eyeballs in potential deflationary targets, with SUVs comprising about one-quarter of its market.
Of course, that doesn't mean SUV deflations are a bad idea in America, just a lot of work . . .
___________
o.k., don't flame me, i'm just kidding. its good to see something is getting donw about Logan
I would be against any movement to do what French "deflators" have done to SUVs. However, I would be more than willing to block the church goers in one Sunday if the city refuses to enforce the parking laws.
Granted, Sweet, nothing in this city ever seems truly final, but I'll stick with my assessment and recommendation. Just stay in close contact (or confirm that your reps are doing so) and watch carefully. People can always ratchet back up if there's unacceptable backsliding.
I just walked around a Logan street with double parked cars and no warnings have been issued by the police. I guess nothing really changes. Here is a letter the Logan Residents sent to city officials and press about this issue:
Despite promises to the residents of our neighborhood and statements made to the press this week, warning notices for church parishioners parking illegally in Logan Circle were not issued today and illegal parking continues to be a safety hazard. Parishioners continue to park in no-parking zones, in front of fire hydrants, near intersections blocking sight lines, in crosswalks, and so forth. This situation persists despite the fact that at 11:00 a.m. - when services had already begun - the more than 50 legal Sunday-only spaces recently provided along the median of Rhode Island Avenue ... a mere two blocks away from these churches ... remain completely vacant and unused (i.e., not one car is parked there). Accordingly, we would like to know why the district has once again broken its promise to enforce the laws equitably against everyone and stop giving parishioners greater rights than tax-paying DC residents?
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that Dee Hunter, a neighboring ANC commissioner, parked his car (DC license plate 338) on a striped, no parking zone (right below a large no-parking sign) at the corner of 12th Street and Vermont Avenue and then placed an "Official Government Business" sign in his window before going to church services! As a DDOT official, you know that this area just before the intersection is clearly marked as a no-parking zone to provide safety and allow a clear line of sight for on-coming traffic from the intersecting roadway. The fact that a government official would blatantly disregard the safety of our residents and misuse his government status to find closer parking for a personal activity such as going to church is unjustifiable. The fact that he would do this when he sat on the ad-hoc committee addressing this problem and is therefore well aware that parking is legal and plentiful only 2 blocks away is shameful!
The residents of this community have been more than fair in reaching a resolution on this issue. DDOT put in parking along the median of Vermont ... thereby reducing the number of traffic lanes and creating greater traffic congestion ... despite significant concerns expressed by residents. Moreover, these spaces are not residentially-zoned, thereby allowing parishioners and other outsiders to come to our community and park virtually unfettered, without paying for a meter or adhering to time restrictions ... something that is virtually unheard of in this city of tight parking. Doing so obviously benefits the church parishioners over tax-paying residents and causes greater strain within our neighborhood. But, we agreed to test it out in the interest of finding an amicable solution on the understanding that our concerns ... namely enforcement and fair treatment ... would be met. Once again, the churches have gotten their wishes and the tax-paying residents valid and logical safety concerns are being disregarded.
So, we ask if the city plans to fulfill its promise and enforce the laws all the time against everyone or if additional action on our part is necessary? The courtesy of a prompt response will be greatly appreciated.