April 24, 2006
Troubled Parkers
The Washington Times today features this quote, from a lawyer with an organization planning to oppose parking enforcement, "The law shouldn't be applied in a way that unfairly burdens churches...This double-parking law is unconstitutional because it puts an unfair burden on the religious institution."
It's often the smallest issues that expose deeper rifts within a city, and the growing imbroglio over illegal church parking threatens to grow into a full-scale exposure of Washington tensions. This, at a time when political transition has reduced the stabilizing forces that have guided D.C. through its recent renaissance. The chief architect of that rebirth, Mayor Anthony Williams, has himself contributed to the difficulties by disregarding ANC discussions and granting a rather confusing edict of executive clemency for church parkers, while some sort of new "compromise" can be worked out.
Parishioners rallied yesterday against neighborhood pressure to enforce the rules, and their remarks escalated the class and race rhetoric that's been a part of the growing fiasco, but it's unlikely that irate homeowners will back down now. Yesterday, Lorraine Miller, president of the local NAACP chapter, said, "We want to do something the gentrifiers don't want us to do: join together." Meanwhile Todd Lovinger, of the Logan Residents for Equitable Enforcement of Parking Regulation, was calling Mayor Williams' move a "disgusting cop-out," noting in press releases that:
...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) [at 11:00 a.m., after church services had begun)]...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!
No one really wants to see an argument take place over whose city this is, who deserves it more, or who has lived here longer or lives here now. No one wants to see this issue in the court system, giving the city another national black eye over a seemingly insignificant disagreement. Above all, no one wants a parking issue to turn into a full-on racial conflict that undermines the city's progress.
What's needed for the mess is leadership, but that quality appears to have vanished as elections loom. There are uncomfortable truths on both sides that need to be aired, and no one has the courage to say them. Too often new residents are willing to shove aside old institutions in the name of higher property values. At the same time, those who left the city to fend for itself owe new residents the right to shape their neighborhoods, and those that remain need to be reminded that neighborliness is not a one way street. Above all, this city that has known lawlessness and disenfranchisement all too well needs to show that it can respect the law and the voters, even when it's uncomfortable or politically inconvenient. Washington's next mayor ought to be someone with the courage to acknowledge and address these divides. At the moment, none of the candidates appear ready to do so.
Picture taken by truenotes.
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Well put. Since the current roster of Mayorial candidates leaves a lot to be desired.....any interest? You'd get my vote!
Since when did following and obeying the law become an unfair burden for those who worship God?
Loved the post Ryan, but I want to say Logan residents are not "shov[ing] aside old institutions." We want the churches to remain here and be a part of the community. What we ask, however, is for them to respect us and obey the traffic laws. That is why we came together and compromised with the churches to come up with a workable plan. Clearly the churches operated in bad faith as anyone who saw the news lastnight (or the rally). Rev. Wheeler is dishonest and I lost a lot of respect for that man. He was at the Logan parking committee meetings and was part of the plan to ENFORCE the laws. Wheeler should be ashamed for what he did on Sunday. He turned his back on the community by not only being there but saying we should shut up and accept the fact that others can get greater rights than DC city residents.
It occurs to me, having lived in Oakland, CA, near several African American churches that part of the church-going ritual in these churches is to put on your Sunday best with hats and gloves and drive your recently cleaned and waxed car to the church. The car is an essential part of the African American church experience. A chance to show off (like those amazing hats) and to remind everyone that you are doing well. This is entirely based on first-person observation (and a little bit of social theory), since I am not black nor do I attend any of these churches. So, this might very well be in the eyes of the parishioners seen as an attack on the church and Sunday rituals of the community by newly arrived outsiders. No matter if they live in DC, Maryland or Virginia.
This issue pretty much zips up, in one neat package, most of the things I have come to loathe about this city after nearly 15 years here. And yes, I'm planning on moving so no need to suggest that.
"The gentrifiers." What a bullshit assertion. Considering a good chunk of us are long-time residents long fed up with this problem as it compounded as our neighbors fled the city to the burbs... and still want to control the block.
This time it isn't about gentrifiers crampin' our style. If we're gonna use broad libelous terms, then I think it would be more accurate to say this is about The Traitors trying to put one over on The Residents.
Well, as part of my Sunday ritual I like to get up naked and enjoy a morning constitutional. Then I get the newspaper and read it on the front steps of my building. Well, I can't read my newspaper naked because of social and legal norms so I merely put on some a shirt and shorts.
Just because someone wants to do something and its part of their lifestyle or ritual doesn't mean its ok to do. I get your point DC1974 in showing why these church goers might double park but I have no sympothy for them anymore. All my love and respect left after the crap they pulled on Sunday.
The more I read about this issue, the less I care. It's a stupid argument that affects at most 5% of the city for 3 hours a week.
The fact that anyone would make a constitutional issue out of this is indicative of either deep duplicity or very deep ignorance. Such arguments should be mocked outright, ideally to the speaker's face.
Mojotron your math is a bit off: I couldn't tell you what percentage of the city this affects, but this happens all over the city, in all quarters and I bet it is more than 3%. Not just those who live near where it happens, but those who travel through or visit where it happens by car.
Also this typically is an all-day problem on Sundays, often a problem for several hours on Saturdays at some churches at on Wednesday nights and whenever else there are services. It is not just a Sunday morning thing.
Actually, I think this issue has an impact for much more than just Sunday morning. This about political sway and power. And if non-DC residents are able to change DC law or allow DC law to not be enforced, what does that say about our community?
If you've moved from DC, you've given up your rights to have a say in what happens here. I don't see people who commute into DC for work trying to change parking laws, and they're here for 40+ hours a week.
Mojotron3000,
Ok, since you don't care that much how about we got to your house and block your car in for 3 to 5 hours on a Sunday, not to mention the other times churches decide to double park. If you don't own a car or feel that people breaking the law is ok then I guess we will just agree to disagree on this issue.
Mojotron3000,
Ok, since you don't care that much how about we go to your house and block your car in for 3 to 5 hours on a Sunday, not to mention the other times churches decide to double park. If you don't own a car or feel that people breaking the law is ok then I guess we will just agree to disagree on this issue.
Surely there must be a compromise available here somewhere.
Why not have a limited amount of "double parking permitted zones" on Sunday between 6am and 2pm? Not everywhere, but just on a strictly enforced block or two near each church. The residents would know they can't park in those specific places if they need to get out Sunday mornings, and the churchgoers would know they can't park anywhere they please, which is what many of them do now. Violators must be ticketed to make it work.
No one would be very happy with this arrangement, which is why it might actually represent real "compromise".
Good point kat and these same politicans actively seek DC statehood. What good is DC statehood for the community when its politial leaders today will not follow what DC citizens want? It stands to reason that if we got statehood that the new DC members of Congress would do the opposite of what DC residents want -- which would be to actually vote with the Republican party.
KDC,
There was a compromise! Read previous decisions about this issue. Logan Circle residents and churches came together to create a parking plan. That plan called for additional parking spaces (about 150) and enforcement. What ended up happening is that the churches got the spaces (Sunday only spaces were created) without the enforcement. What more compromise could Logan residents do?
Sorry, decisions=discussions. Blah, I am a horrible editor of my own work.
Let's see, 3 years at a DC law school tells me that they would have to prove the "undue burden." Walking four blocks is not an undue burden if you love your Lord. Let this go to litigation because I would love to see the churches prove their case.
On the side note- having gone to AU for law school, Spring Valley residents can ticket up the yin-yang for students parked legally if they suspect the student goes to AU. Maybe Logan residents need to hook up with Spring Valley.
Boy, I sure hope that DCist manages to squeeze two more posts out of this issue tomorrow, and then two more on Wednesday, and then Thursday . . .
Isn't it time we started back up with the gratuitous CakeLove posts instead?
ms - I have not read every discussion on this issue (there have been many). If what you say is true, then the church folk need to chill. I live in the neighborhood, too, but not near a church, so it hasn't directly affected me. If it did, I'd be pretty aggravated if they would not give an inch.
That's some interesting constitutional interpretation. Whether or not enforcing double-parking laws is a burden on the free exercise of religion, it has to be balanced against a compelling state interest in keeping the roads safe, reducing traffic, etc. Freedom of religion isn't some trump card that lets churches do whatever they want to.
Anyway, I too would love to see them litigate it as a constitutional issue.
I would presume that a sizeable amount of these churchgoers are suburbanites (Ward 9) residents who make their weekly trek back to DC to their old community, which they abandoned years ago, on Sundays in their freshly washed and waxed cars, most with Maryland license plates.
Now, why on Earth are these churches not located where most of their members live? Answer me that.
It seems as though some people want to be above the law and try to use religion as a qualifier.
DC residents who live in these affected neighborhoods should have more say than people who do not pay DC taxes and have long abandoned their former communities.
DC should enforce, equally, the traffic laws in this city. If DC wants to continue to allow people to break the traffic law for this, then DC needs to abolish the rest of the traffic laws in the city.
The new residents in Logan Circle, Shaw, Thomas Circle, etc. deserve better. The only thing these whining churchgoers need is a boot in the ass out of this city - and take the church with them.
How hard is it to walk a couple of blocks to attend church from a legal street parking spot or lot? Are people that lazy? Ok, I will answer that. YES.
At least the new residents of DC's long neglected neighborhoods are trying to improve them. Less trash on the steets and sidewalks, less people trading drugs on the corner, restored architecture, and so on. All those things are something the former residents, many of which are the current whiny churchgoers, did not respect, appreciate, or value when they decided to adandon their communities for the "better life" in Ward 9.
As Ryan said, DC needs leadership, firm leadership on this issue. Unfortunately, very few of DC's current elected officials and/or mayoral hopefuls are ready for prime time on these type of sensitive issues that plague the city.
I just parked on 11th in the newly painted back-in/pull-out parking spaces. they are pretty nifty. 1 parallel space is now 3 parking spaces. this narrows the road to a single lane each direction, which means there is no way anyone can double park without blocking the ONLY lane of traffic in that direction.
That said, I've been watching traffic bottleneck where 3 lanes merge to 1 going northbound at Q and 11th. Metro busses make it worse. And you should see the mess its causing when someone wants to stop and back into one of those spaces. 5 cars behind you and you have to stop and reverse to get into a spot. People can't go around because there is on-coming traffic.
It is sad to see that the city has made this change at the expense of DC residents who are just trying to get home, for the sake of a few lazy *uckers who drive here from MD and are not willing to walk a block or two once a week.
If you are looking for some entertainment, go out and watch the mess. I can't wait to see what it's like tomorrow at 8 am.
BTW: For you cyclists I overheard the little league baseball coach just now say "Its bullsh*t. Now they are putting in a bike lane on my street too. Can you believe that! Those people who ride bikes shouldn't even be on the road."
Recognizing this is a minor issue in the grand scheme, it definitely resonates with me--and I don't even have a car!
I am a "new" resident to the Logan Circle area, although I have lived in the DC suburbs for the prior 20 years. As soon as I got a job and enough income, I came down here--not only because I believe in living near work and maintaining an appropriate ecological footprint, but because I love DC and all it has to offer.
I will be honest, however--I tend to resent some of the churches in the neighborhood. Not so much for the traffic on Sunday mornings (remember, I walk; although I love hearing when the Church of the Rapture would malign the neighborhoods "new residents.")
What I resent is that they amount to large voids in the social fabric of our community during the other six days of the week. Very little seems to happen at these churches, which, the other posters are correct, appear to largely be frequented by out-of-towners. Maybe it’s just my catholic upbringing, but that wouldn't cut it in Catholicism. When you moved, you went to a new church--it was as rigid as public school districts. So why aren't they investing in their new neighborhoods? Why aren't they meeting their new neighbors?
I've moved here, and I'm invested. I do volunteer work with Whitman Walker and Come Unto Me. What we need are more community centers and services like these, not a congregation gasping to retain a stake in communities they long ago abandoned.
I think the issue is a slap in the face for most residents because if you're like me and you own a car, you've received parking tickets for stupid things (many I've fought and won). The fact that people (many of whom are not residents) are breaking the law and not getting ticketed for it (and that D.C. politicians condone it) is downright insulting.
Race is not an issue here. It's as simple as obeying (and enforcing) the posted signage. If someone wants to make this a religious issue, then maybe we should remind our representatives that there should be a separation between church and state.
KDC, that doesn't really sound like a compromise. It sounds like what is exactly going on right now. Church goers double-park with impunity right in front of the church, and people get blocked in, knowing it's probably going to happen. Agreeing to that situation would just be agreeing to the status quo.
I hear what everyone is saying on this issue, but I keep wondering what possible incentive a politician could have being viewed as critical of black churches. That's just a losing tactic in this one-party town.
If only DC Democrats would realize it's not always in their best interests to vote the same locally as they do nationally. Nobody would take away your NPR membership if you started to vote for a different party on the city-level. It doesn't have to be Republican. It could be anything else. As long as one party has a stranglehold on the city government, and the core Democratic voters are the only votes that matter, than causes like this are futile.
I'm starting to wonder if someone's not behind the scenes creating trouble in the form of a race divide- just in time for the Nov elections.
Where is the rational and respectful dialog?
I live near three African American churches in the Hill East neighborhood and the two closest to me both have parking lots adjacent to their churches. The churches made a decision - probably quite a while ago - to deal with parking within the law and in a friendly way towards the neighbors. As a result, everyone is happy on Sunday mornings.
It seems to me that the Logan neighbors have gone more than halfway by helping to craft a compromise. They didn't have to - I'm sure someone could have filed a lawsuit to force the city to fairly enforce the laws. No one wants to keep people from attending church - but no one wants to be blocked in a parking spot week after week either.
Perhaps the pastors and the local NAACP might see this differently if THEIR cars were blocked in now and again.
"Mojotron your math is a bit off: I couldn't tell you what percentage of the city this affects, but this happens all over the city, in all quarters and I bet it is more than 3%. Not just those who live near where it happens, but those who travel through or visit where it happens by car."
-That was purely anecdotal based on what I've seen. I live in NE and on Capitol Hill you'll see it occasionally but it's never been a huge hassle. georgetown has one street (P or Q?) that has parking available only on Sunday and only until 2, which seems to be an exemption created solely for the church there. Logan Circle is the only place I've really heard of (or seen) it being a big issue, but YMMV.
"Ok, since you don't care that much how about we got to your house and block your car in for 3 to 5 hours on a Sunday, not to mention the other times churches decide to double park. If you don't own a car or feel that people breaking the law is ok then I guess we will just agree to disagree on this issue."
Holy crap, people breaking minor laws in DC! Next you'll be telling me that people aren't registering their bikes with the police as required by law, or people with a .01 BAC aren't being arrested behind the wheel, or DC residents aren't reporting and paying the difference in sales tax between VA and DC when they buy something over the Potomac. DC has a lot of stupid laws on the books so saying that "the law must be enforced or it means nothing" doesn't really mean much to me. I think that people getting blocked in on Sundays is wrong, but that doesn't mean that I think this is a major deal that should dominate local news (and I think the churches have been especially asshatish about it and this could've/should've been worked out a while back without the word "gentrify" popping up).
And now I've wasted more space on it.
"No one really wants to see an argument take place over whose city this is, who deserves it more, or who has lived here longer or lives here now. ... Above all, no one wants a parking issue to turn into a full-on racial conflict that undermines the city's progress."
Really? No one?
This is great stuff. I just got a ticket and I'm totally going to try the religious persecution defense. Brilliant!
Mark,
Non of that dialog was there on Sunday. I don't understand how churches can claim some moral high ground and spew that garage at the Rally. It made me sick to see religious leaders tell me I was a lesser and that I should deal with this small injustice for the benefit of people too lazy to walk to church.
KDC,
Yes it is true. All the details about this Logan Circle Parking committee can be found on this website or the Logan Circle one. At any rate, the churches made out like bandits on this one. They can use Logan streets as a personal parking lot without the fear of getting ticketed.
Anthony Williams' stance (or lack thereof) on this issue is antithetical to his goal of attracting 100k new residents to DC. Why would someone want to move into an area if their political opinion doesn't count because of their "newcomer" status? These so-called "gentrifiers" are the ones investing in the community and cleaning up the blighted voids where the "old-timer" churches reside. Williams should be bending over backwards to accomodate the newcomers, unless his definition of "preserving the social fabric" involves abandoned property and open-air crack markets.
Mojotron3000,
Comparing cars that double park, block cross walks, or fire hydrates to people who don't register their bikes or "stupid laws" in general is wrong. There is what is know as victim-less crimes and that is what bike registerion is.
Anyhow, I don't get your point about not putting this on local news. This is a major local issue because the churches have made it into one. Local news covers what? Local issues and this is the big one of the day.
Since the churches have decides to make this a "religious persecution" issue, I would encourage anyone who has been ticketed for attending a legitimate non-Christian religious event (Yom-Kippur was presented anecdotally in a previous discussion) to contact the city and local media and ask for an explanation of why they couldn't park in said location.
Has anyone seen what the Jews are saying on this one? I'd love to know.
What Would Jesus Do?
I think that he would blame the situation on the gentrifiers who have the gall to complain when their cars are blocked in for hours on Sundays.
Remember when these folks cried about having to pay their water bills?
I think it's time to discuss churches paying real estate taxes, and income taxes on the money in the collection plates. After that happens...then we can talk about compromise on parking enforcement.
"I don't understand how churches can claim some moral high ground and spew that garage at the Rally."
If only they somehow HAD spewed a garage at the Rally--that would have solved everyone's problem!
:)
To me it's a selective enforcement issue. For years I've gotten tickets for 'blocking the entrance' to buildings near gay bars, particularly on NY Avenue (the Eagle). But those 'buildings' have been demolished for decades. The city was just to lazy to go and undue the curb cuts. My parking there did not block traffic in any way. And it was midnight on a Saturday night. The tickets, incidentally, were $100.
However, ten hours later, within a few blocks, churchgoers were allowed to not only block in spaces just like the one I used, they were actually allowed to block traffic and double and even triple park.
MPD has been very, very proactive in cracking down on the 'evils' of late-night gay bar parking even though it is truly a victimless activity, and the parking was at best a technical violation due to the city being lazy.
However, the same MPD (and parking enforcement) refuse to rein in double parking by churchgoers.
So gay bar patrons get tagged for the most minor of violations, for years, and churchgoers can literally set their own rules, for years.
Something here reeks of selective enforcement and of some people being more 'equal' than others.
It amazes me that the same people who put on my license plate "Taxation Without Representation" as a political statement are embodying this sentiment.
Why the ralliers felt that they needed to have the president of the local NAACP chapter present to speak only underlines their lack of perspective on this situation. They see this as an attack on racial lines. They want to label us "gentrifiers" and "newcombers" rather than "neighbors" and "taxpayers". I don't see how compromise is possible when it has become an "us" versus "them" situation.
"They" are upset that the traditional neighborhood that was once "theirs" is being diversified, refurbished and claimed by "us". Every time there is some sort of disagreement involving the neighborhood, it is always the "gentrifiers" fault. It inhibits the progress this city has tried to accomplish over the past decade.
What legacy is Mayor Williams trying to leave? One where he worked to better the city? Or one where he worked to better his approval rating with non-taxpaying suburbanites?
This conversation, much more interesting... But I want to put out the WWJJD line, "What Would Jane Jacobs Do?"
She would say that people are asking the wrong question, that the question isn't why aren't there enough parking spaces, but why are there so many cars? That's why again, I recommend requiring TDM. As people say, yes, people are too lazy to walk a block or two. Well too bad, walk. And TDM would lead to this, and a better use of extant resources.
As I recounted in my blog -- two 130 year old houses were torn down for an illegal parking lot by a church, yet, 1/2 block away there is an unused 45 space parking lot that the church could have rented for weekend use, and at best the illegal parking lot accommodates 17 cars, and now we have an ugly-ass hole on the street that contributes to an already pronounced "order vacuum."
That being said, DC1974, always has interesting observations. Maybe I should start waxing my bike...
Mojotron3000,
I don't live in Logan. I live in Mt. Vernon Sq. and I use to live on the Hill. You're right. It's not so much a problem on the Hill. The churches there actually respect Capitol Hill's residents. Not to mention the Capitol Hill police would actually ticket you if you're parked illegally.
However, I do own a home in Mt. Vernon Sq. The good church folks park on 6th St. whenever they want and block the traffic in the neighborhood. This includes weekdays. Furthermore, since I live a block from teh 395 tunnel, these same good folks often speed through my block in a hurry to race out of the city after their service.
So yes - these churches do inconvenience other DC residents. It's more than Logan Circle. I can't double park in front of St. Matt's in Dupont when I go to service there on Sunday. I'd get an instand ticket!
Seems to me if the churches persist in playing the race card, Logan residents are well within their rights to play the queer card. Doubleparked cars that box in my Mini Cooper prevent me from blaring Scissor Sisters on my way to Whole Foods to buy my merlot and organic steak. This is a clear violation of my Constitutional right to be fabulous.
I disagree that it's not a problem on the Hill.
The churchgoers at 3rd and A NE routinely double parks (sorry, I forget the name of the church). And it's sometimes literally all day.
Even worse, one of their parishioners is a DC cop. He'll show up in uniform, sometimes with his cop car. He'll then direct traffic, literally 'reserving' street spaces for churchgoers, telling residents they can't park there. He then goes inside and goes to church.
He's been doing it for years. Not every Sunday, but often enough to know that it's something the church considers their right.
And there's a quite large Supreme Court lot open to all on weekends literally across the street from this church, so it's not like they are without parking.
Yes, some Hill churches have tried to work with neighbors.
I don't remember ever defending someone blocking a fire hydrant; I thought we were discussing double-parkers only.
I can understand the complaints about selective enforcement, I've gotten unwarranted tickets before. But unless there's a huge rash of people getting blocked in when they're trying to get somewhere (which may be the case, I just haven't seen it) I think there should be more lax enforcement if the double-parking is victimless. The church (temple?) at Stanton park has double-parkers and illegal parkers on Sundays (especially when Al Sharpton pops in) but it's a minor inconvenience at worst. P or Q St. in Georgetown basically is down to one lane on Sundays because they allow church parking there and yes, it slows traffic down but it just really isn't a big deal to me.
P.S. - I'm Jewish and yes, I drive.
Mojotron3000,
Clearly you haven't been around logan where the churches used the streets as there personal parking lot. It has gotten better but double/illegal parking will remain a burden on TAX PAYING RESIDENTS as long as enforcment of the laws isn't done.
I invite you to come to Logan on a Sunday morning during church hours and walk around. You will see the illegally parking plus, if you walk only a few blocks away, you will see EMPTY parking spaces.
I am just guessing these church goers don't care much about their religion if its too much of a burden to walk 3 or 4 blocks to worship. I wonder what tenets of their religion they have given up because doing them "was too much of a burden." I have no sympathy for people like that. My gf walks from the Logan Circle area to St. Matthew on Sundays for church and I can tell you that is more than 3 or 4 blocks. Is that too much of a burden on her? Maybe she should double park on CT. to excercise her religious freedom.
Hillman,
That's just ridiculous. Get a picture if you can.
An eye for an eye.
If you find you're blocked in Sunday morning by an illegal double-parker, just deflate the air from one of its tires.
No lasting damage, but give them a taste of their own medicine.
I know it means you'll be blocked in a bit longer while they put a spare on, but then they may think twice about double-parking next Sunday!
Failing that, there's the option of dumping a sticky soda, juice or beer all over their hood and windshield...
We're not talking vandalism like "keying" a car or slashing tires. I would never condone that.
LooLoo,
I understand where your coming from but I would never want to deflate tires. The most I say we do is block them in for a few hours and have the press and cops come.
But what we will probably end up doing is taking legal action. They don't have a case to stand on and the city knows they are lucky not to get sued over this yet.
My two cents:
In a lot of American cities, local residents VANDALIZE cars that park in their spots on the streets. The churchgoers should count their blessings that the "gentrifiers" are choosing to be civil about this. I know I wouldn't be if I lived in Logan Circle.