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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Some Say 'No Parking' Isn't Enough
By Polly Summar
Journal Staff Writer
No one seems to have an answer to Santa Fe's neighborhood parking woes near downtown, not even home-owners who have decided to put up their own "No Parking" signs.
Cynthia and Robert Romero, who live on the street named for their family off of Manhattan Avenue near the burgeoning Railyard, put up a "No Parking Any Time" sign some two years ago on the gate that borders the sidewalk in front of their house.
"It hasn't really worked," Robert Romero said. But at least it's at a height where people can see it, as opposed to the official signs posted by the city, he said.
"Look at those city signs," he said, pointing to signs some 8 feet high on poles that say parking is restricted to vehicles with residential parking permits — a common sight on streets in and around downtown.
The Romeros say people shopping at The Ark bookstore and visiting places in the Railyard regularly park in front of both their house and driveway.
"Sometimes, they'll even say, 'Oh, I'll just be 5 minutes,'" Cynthia said, and sort of scamper away, often even leaving their cars overnight.
City attorney Frank Katz said resident-installed no-parking signs don't have any legal standing. But they're not uncommon around Santa Fe.
Parking division director Bill Hon said residents can call the city at 955-6581 during working hours to report cars without resident parking permits in their windshield. If a car is ticketed, the cost to the car owner is $37.
"We are getting a lot of calls from neighbors" in the Railyard area, Hon said, especially as the Railyard gets closer to completion, because so many more contractors are required in the finishing process.
"Those people are parking in neighborhoods where they shouldn't park," Hon said. "And there are special events at El Museo, (such as) the antiquities show. So now people are sneaking into neighborhoods, so we are ramping up enforcement."
Generally, the city does not go into neighborhoods and tow cars, he said.
"We have to give due process of law," Hon said. "If it's not blocking your driveway or causing a threat to the safety of the public ... you have to give them 24 hours notice."
Hon admitted that sometimes locals are not clear about residential parking permits in Santa Fe's more urban neighborhoods.
"If you're not a resident, you can never park in (the restricted neighborhoods)," he said. Businesses are not given residential parking permits for their customers when a store's lot is full.
But what if you live in a residential parking permit neighborhood and want to have a party?
"All you have to do is call the parking division and let us know the dates of the party, and we'll let the neighborhood know," Hon said. "We'll send an officer out there to drop off flyers so the residents know that there will be additional vehicles on the street."
Within the neighborhoods surrounding the Railyard, there are some special parking situations locals should be aware of. Linda King, who lives in an off-street complex on Manhattan Avenue with eight condominiums and four free-standing homes, said the homeowners there have trouble with people blocking the main gravel driveway into the complex.
"We call Acme Towing and have them towed," King said.
And if cars are illegally parked on Manhattan Avenue, they call police dispatch (428-3710) to have the cars ticketed.
"It's (the number) in all our cell phones," said King, referring to homeowners in the complex.
"People don't want to pay for parking, and once that Railyard is up," it's going to be an even bigger problem for the surrounding neighborhoods, King said.
There will be hundreds of new parking spaces in the Railyard — which will include businesses, a park, the Farmer's Market, the already-open Warehouse 21 teen performance center and a host of other attractions — but the spaces won't be free.
Even in neighborhoods a bit farther away, those without street parking that is limited to those with residential parking permits, there are problems from Railyard and downtown visitors.
A homowner on Gomez Road, just off Paseo de Peralta, said cars from Railyard and downtown events spill over into his neighborhood.
The man, who didn't want his name used, has a no-parking sign on the gate in front of his house. Told that it's not legal, he said, "If I pay the taxes, I own the piece that's in front — it's personal respect."
While city officials point to their increased efforts to enforce parking permits and laws, even they are not particularly hopeful about the situation once the Railyard opens.
"It's going to get worse and worse," Katz said.