The Fenty administration has decided to begin enforcing parking rules and restrictions seven days a week in the Third Police District, making a break with former Mayor Anthony Williams’ decision to put off deciding how to tackle the controversial church parking issue in the Logan Circle and Shaw neighborhoods.
Looks like we got the same email as blogger 14th and You, which was sent out to ANC commissioners from the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services:
From: Bjorge, Mark (EOM)
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 11:27 AM
Subject: Notice to commissioners re: parking enforcementDear Commissioners:
This message is to inform you that MPD 3D has begun full enforcement of posted parking regulations 7 days per week. We ask for your help in ensuring that residents are informed of this increased attention to parking compliance and safety issues, which will begin immediately.
Thank you very much for your assistance,
Mark Bjorge
Executive Office of the Mayor
Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services
Outreach and Services Specialist – Ward 2
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Ste 211
Washington, DC 20004-3003
Borge hasn’t responded to our emails requesting further comment, but it’s clear this new policy is designed to begin finally a crackdown on church parking. The issue first reached a boiling point in 2006, when Logan residents began making noise about the longstanding practice of city parking enforcement to ignore violations like double-parking during typical Sunday church hours, when parishioners at the neighborhood’s historically black churches who live in the suburbs come into the city to attend services. A blog called Logan Circle Parking Problems even popped up at the time, but Mayor Williams postponed making a decision on the issue, instead deciding to appoint a task force to investigate solutions. The task force recommended enforcement be tailored neighborhood-by-neighborhood, but Williams did not fully implement their recommendations before leaving office. He did, however, add angled parking to one area of Logan in order to increase the number of legal spaces available.
Photo courtesy Logan Circle Parking Problems
