Council stumped by residents' parking concerns
Police have authority to enforce zoning code
The city doesn’t yet have an answer for parking concerns brought up by residents in the area of Chadwick Lane and Winston Circle on the city’s west side. File photo
MEDINA – A zoning code measure adopted by city council earlier this year giving police authority to ticket residents who park vehicles in their yards and over sidewalks has created issues for at least one street in town, but no solution has been given yet.
Chadwick Lane residents Darla Metro and Jodi Brant were invited to Medina City Council’s finance committee meeting April 24, representing 50-plus homes in the area of Chadwick and Winston Circle just off of Abbeyville Road on the city’s far west side.
In Metro’s case, she has four drivers in her household and not enough driveway space, despite having previously widened her driveway by seven feet, she said. One way or another, she said, a vehicle will hang over the portion of city sidewalk crossing her driveway.
The city has an ordinance banning parking on streets between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. and state law prohibits parked vehicles from impeding on sidewalks. The city has only recently started to crack down on the latter.
“Our lots are small, our driveways are small. I can park on the street until 2 a.m. and then get a ticket for putting it in my driveway,” Metro said. “I widened my driveway ... It’s just the design of my home. There’s nothing I can do to change it.”
Council President John Coyne acknowledged proper consideration of driveway sizes may not have been given at the time the city OK’d the variances for the small lots on Chadwick. Most of the lots in that neighborhood were developed, as well as variances approved, in the early 2000s and late 1990s.
“We asked for the trouble as a city at the time we granted the variances,” said Coyne, who has served on council since 1998. “The only solution I can see is parking on the street.”
Mayor Dennis Hanwell argued the rules should be consistent citywide and didn’t immediately like the idea of granting an overnight parking exception for certain streets, though he said the city does have the power to do so under home rule. Other officials were worried granting overnight parking exceptions for one street could open themselves up to similar requests from residents of other city streets.
Initially, Hanwell suggested a vehicle turnaround can be added to a driveway under the city’s existing zoning code.
“I might as well just concrete my whole yard and dye it green,” Metro responded to the mayor’s suggestion.
Law Director Greg Huber expressed his displeasure with the prohibition of parking vehicles on yards in general.
“If I’m paying my real estate tax and my mortgage, why is the city telling me I can’t park my (expletive) vehicle on my grass?” Huber asked rhetorically. “We fix one problem and create another, but the practical reality is we’ve been a city for a long time without this ordinance.”
Hanwell clarified the measure was not a new ordinance, but rather allowed police to enforce zoning violations with citations.
Councilman At-Large Bill Lamb argued the measure is “an absolute necessity if you want to maintain a neighborhood.”
Nothing was voted on, but the mayor and council said they would arrange for police to provide an extension on allowing Metro to park vehicles on the street overnight until the matter could be discussed further and formal action taken.
Chadwick Lane residents Darla Metro and Jodi Brant were invited to Medina City Council’s finance committee meeting April 24, representing 50-plus homes in the area of Chadwick and Winston Circle just off of Abbeyville Road on the city’s far west side.
In Metro’s case, she has four drivers in her household and not enough driveway space, despite having previously widened her driveway by seven feet, she said. One way or another, she said, a vehicle will hang over the portion of city sidewalk crossing her driveway.
The city has an ordinance banning parking on streets between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. and state law prohibits parked vehicles from impeding on sidewalks. The city has only recently started to crack down on the latter.
“Our lots are small, our driveways are small. I can park on the street until 2 a.m. and then get a ticket for putting it in my driveway,” Metro said. “I widened my driveway ... It’s just the design of my home. There’s nothing I can do to change it.”
Council President John Coyne acknowledged proper consideration of driveway sizes may not have been given at the time the city OK’d the variances for the small lots on Chadwick. Most of the lots in that neighborhood were developed, as well as variances approved, in the early 2000s and late 1990s.
“We asked for the trouble as a city at the time we granted the variances,” said Coyne, who has served on council since 1998. “The only solution I can see is parking on the street.”
Mayor Dennis Hanwell argued the rules should be consistent citywide and didn’t immediately like the idea of granting an overnight parking exception for certain streets, though he said the city does have the power to do so under home rule. Other officials were worried granting overnight parking exceptions for one street could open themselves up to similar requests from residents of other city streets.
Initially, Hanwell suggested a vehicle turnaround can be added to a driveway under the city’s existing zoning code.
“I might as well just concrete my whole yard and dye it green,” Metro responded to the mayor’s suggestion.
Law Director Greg Huber expressed his displeasure with the prohibition of parking vehicles on yards in general.
“If I’m paying my real estate tax and my mortgage, why is the city telling me I can’t park my (expletive) vehicle on my grass?” Huber asked rhetorically. “We fix one problem and create another, but the practical reality is we’ve been a city for a long time without this ordinance.”
Hanwell clarified the measure was not a new ordinance, but rather allowed police to enforce zoning violations with citations.
Councilman At-Large Bill Lamb argued the measure is “an absolute necessity if you want to maintain a neighborhood.”
Nothing was voted on, but the mayor and council said they would arrange for police to provide an extension on allowing Metro to park vehicles on the street overnight until the matter could be discussed further and formal action taken.