A yellow curb raised questions and concerns during the Auburn City Council meeting on August 20.
The residential parking issue ended in a tie and almost every councilman voiced his opinion.
"An ordinance was passed at the last meeting establishing a no parking zone on a piece of property on Bibb Avenue," said City Manager Charles Duggan. "This evening some of the neighbors asked for the council to reconsider that vote."
Before the August 6 meeting, a lady on Bibb Street requested to have the curb in front of her house painted yellow to indicate a no parking zone, said City Engineer Jeffery Ramsey.
And the Council voted to have the curb painted.
"This is not unusual. We have gotten several requests all over town of people blocking their driveway and blocking their mailboxes," Ramsey said. "We allow them to make a petition to City Council for no parking as long as it's in front of their property."
William Lester of 918 Bibb Ave., questioned the Council's decision to paint the curb in front of his neighbor's property on 920 Bibb Ave.
"My concern is that no notification was given to the neighbors. We were not allowed to give any opposing opinions or views," Lester said.
"We woke up the next morning and there's a yellow curb in our neighborhood."
Lester said his neighbor had a car parked in front of her property for at least 15 years. He said when she moved the car, he felt she did not want anyone else parking there. The issue goes beyond residential parking for Councilman Arthur Dowdell.
"I think this was done with malice and selfishness," said Councilman Arthur Dowdell. "I think if we start allowing single citizens to come and ask we are going to have a lot of yellow lines in our communities."
The area in question is in a closed neighborhood. According to Lester, few cars pass through the area that are not residents.
"There's a steep hill there. The crest of the hill, she can't see over that," Lester said. "Her driveway is below the hill and regardless if there's a vehicle in that spot or not, she cannot see over the hill."
"Gentlemen, I feel a little responsible that we passed this and didn't ask to hear the other side of the story from the other neighbors," said Councilman Ron Anders. "I think we should have done that and I would like to see us resend this vote."
Anders' opinion did not come true, but he encouraged Lester to converse with his neighbor to resolve the issue in a respectful manner.
"We obviously are caught in the middle of a neighborhood spat and that's not a good place for us to be I don't think," said Councilman Bob Norman. "I'd hate to see a precedent set here that anytime anybody wants to control parking in front of their house that it's a political issue."
Norman said if he were in the resident's shoes, he would expect the City to paint the curb if he could not see to safely get out of his driveway.
"I hate to make this a political referee issue," Norman said. "We got a precedent, we've done it other places by citizen request."
The Council voted four yes and four no, which led to a tie. The decision to paint the curb yellow still stands and the paint will not be removed from the curb.
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