Public Hearing Set For Proposed Parking District

At 5 p.m. Tuesday, University Park residents can weigh in on the proposed SMU-area parking district currently before the City Council. The letter sent to affected homeowners is below.

So what do you think, Park Cities residents, good idea or bad idea?

2-9-11 U.P. Proposed Residential Parking District

By Bradford Pearson Feb. 16, 2011 | 11:11 am | 9 Comments | Comments RSS
9 comments to "Public Hearing Set For Proposed Parking District"
  1. Cody @ February 16, 2011 at 11:56 am
    I wonder how the UPPD feels about delivering visitor parking passes to homes and how much notice would they require. What a waste of resources! This will really be a burden for those of us living in these districts and I for one would like to know how many “continued Citizen requests for a resident parking only) they really got and was it from the same people who kept complaining.

  2. Avid Reader @ February 16, 2011 at 4:45 pm
    Maybe the letter should have stated the reason why they are even considering this…

  3. bn @ February 16, 2011 at 8:07 pm
    Cody,

    Your right, why is the city having the police officers deliver these passes, why can’t the residents go pick them up? There free

  4. wondering @ February 17, 2011 at 10:59 am
    We didn’t get a letter, perhaps because we rent? We live here, are committed to the community and will be affected by the parking district. Shouldn’t this information from the city have gone out to all residents, rather than just homeowners? We vote in city elections as residents.

    On the UP web site it outlines the proposed parking district in yellow. What is the blue-lined area? Was there a legend on the map that I missed?

    Perhaps there could be a way to print the parking passes (for visitors) ourselves at home. Save UPPD resources and save us the trouble of driving over to City Hall every time we have a visitor drop by unannounced.

    I, too, would like to know if these “continued citizen requests” were from the same people or a majority of residents. There would be advantages to having more room to park on the street ourselves, but I also rather enjoy the stream of students heading to and from class. In my experience, most are respectful of residents.

    The animosity I hear on the blog toward SMU confuses me. I respect those opinions, but I enjoy having the university here, it is a wonderful advantage to our community. The arts, Tate Lecture Series and adult education non-credit courses – to name a few – enrich our lives.

    At least the talk of having to pay for these passes is past. The city must have heard that loud and clear!

  5. SMU Neighbor @ February 17, 2011 at 5:18 pm
    I too used to like seeing the students walk to campus past our house in the morning. However, I did tire of picking up all of the food wrappers & bags from my yard each day. Now students don’t park on our street so much (for other reasons), and the trash has gone down dramatically.

    Animosity toward SMU? Yes, I have some. They are by far the worst neighbors I have ever had. They arrogantly act as if whatever they want is just how things should be. I guess I can’t blame them since the city council gives them anything and everything they ask for.

    I don’t know, but I’m guessing that Wondering lives west of campus. Here on the east side, SMU continues to buy houses, purposely let them run down to bring down the value of adjacent homes which they also have their eyes on. They outwardly and literally laugh at zoning that is supposed to be in place to prevent our neighborhood from becoming things like parking lots or fraternity houses. (And again, when the council changes the zoning at SMU’s whim, despite 96% of the near by residents–those who are affected–being adamantly against it, who can blame SMU for their attitude?) But it doesn’t do anything to reduce “animosity”.

    When you move into the middle of a neighborhood, and then find SMU and the council slowly reduce the size of that neighborhood until you become put on the perimeter of it, it tends to build animosity.

    I’m one vocal person, but I know at least a dozen or more on my street who feel identically.

  6. Matt @ February 18, 2011 at 9:54 am
    What concerns me about the process is that the UP City Council had a meeting on the parking district last year which was almost unanimously shot down by residents (I look at the video again last night on the council website). The Council was to look to SMU for solutions rather than lowering property values with the parking restrictions and forcing residents to obtain permits. Now the council is back without any explanation of what they did at the request of the citizens. What happened to listening to your constituents?

  7. SMU Neighbor @ February 18, 2011 at 12:27 pm
    @Matt – unfortunately, that’s very consistent with what I’ve seen from the council on other issues involving SMU. I think it’s why some people call our city, “SMUniversity Park”.

  8. Cody @ February 23, 2011 at 3:09 pm
    I talked to a resident near the High School and asked how permit parking was working for them. She indicated that it is more of a hassle then it is worth. She did mention that it was enforced in the beginning but that enforcement has dropped off. She also said that some of the Residents with just one car have sold their extra permit to High School Students. The police will bring guest permits promptly but depending on what officer it is their attitude can be surly. I attended the City Council meeting last night but did not know that you had to fill out a green card and submit it to them before the meeting to be able to make a comment. Lessen learned. The Council did say that several resident concerns were being tweeked but did not indicate what they were.

  9. Erica @ February 24, 2011 at 4:45 pm
    Is there any video from the hearing on February 22, 2011?

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