It’s a familiar sight to anyone who’s driven in D.C. on a Sunday: rows upon rows of double-parked cars. The vehicles belong to churchgoers, many of whom make the trip in from the suburbs for worship services. The spectacle lasts for the better part of the day, cutting many streets down to a single lane in each direction and occasionally trapping the cars of unprepared neighborhood residents.

So far as we know, the double parking is technically illegal — but police and parking enforcement officers turn a blind eye. After all, traffic is light on Sunday, and it doesn’t seem right to pick on churchgoers.

But it looks like a storm is brewing over church parking. Today, WJLA’s website carries a story about the parking situation; and just yesterday this DCist came across an NBC4 camera crew (pictured above) shooting material for a piece about the issue.

More importantly, area businesses and residents are starting to complain. The Logan Circle News blog reports that a campaign has been started asking city officials to crack down on the illegal parking. And the manager of Vegetate has told DCist that Shiloh Baptist Church’s objections to his restaurant may be motivated by parking concerns: Vegetate’s brunch offerings seem destined to make Sunday parking on Ninth Street a contentious issue.

Some argue that parking enforcement should be completely even-handed. Others point out that many congregation members have been displaced by gentrification, and that denying them easy access to their churches would add insult to injury. The only thing that’s certain is that the city’s economic boom means the debate isn’t likely to fade away. What do you think?