Citizens of Ward 5 are concerned about parking around Auburn High School.
Councilwoman Lynda Tremaine held a public meeting for her constituents at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church on Magnolia Avenue Monday, Dec. 1, and the primary issue brought up was the parking situation at the high school.
The Auburn City Council passed an ordinance on Nov. 18, banning parking from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the streets near the high school.
Residents at the meeting were concerned high school students will just park farther down the street where parking is still allowed.
Tremaine said if anyone has a problem after the no-parking signs go up to contact her, and she explained the high school doesn't have enough parking.
"Students have to pay $70 to get a parking plate, but they also have to be willing to take a random drug test and have to be a junior or senior," Tremaine said.
Sherry Hobbs, a resident of the Indian Hill subdivision off of East Glenn Avenue, said her neighborhood has been surrounded by commercial development and is concerned about the future of her neighborhood.
"They're going to zone it commercial, that's what (the City Council) said," Hobbs said. "They're going to commercialize the whole subdivision and we're going to have to move."
Hobbs said she's been a resident of the neighborhood for 19 years.
"We absolutely love it, and we're so close to everything," Hobbs said. "We're just in limbo right now, because we don't know when we're going or where we're going to."
Another issue discussed at the meeting was the proposed apartment moratorium.
Stone Ray, a 17-year-old student at Lee-Scott Academy, said he was against the moratorium.
"If a moratorium is passed (the downtown master plan) is null and void," Ray said. "The potential of this city is very high and the advertising that we have is phenomenal."
Ray, who wants study architecture and city planning in college, said he is worried a moratorium could derail the growth of Auburn.
The 160 Ross apartments on the corner of North Ross Street and East Glenn Avenue have been the source of most of the complaints, according to Tremaine.
A Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing is scheduled to determine whether to allow the Ross development to put up a freestanding sign on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
"You mention the apartments on Ross and it gets people's attention," Tremaine said. "A lot of people feel like it's hurting the development of our town."
Tremaine plans to hold town hall meetings for Ward 5 the first Monday of every month.
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