Update on Front Yark Parking Ordinance

I recently attended a Greensboro Neighborhood Congress Issues Committee Meeting where I had the chance to relay my concerns about the Front Yard Parking Ordinance to Fred Boateng with the City's Zoning Department. During this meeting, he informed that the City will not begin enforcement activities until October 15th at which points fines for non-compliance can be issued to the tune of $50/day. Enforcement will be conducted by the City's Zoning Department and NOT the Police Department. The City has hired a temporary staff person and shifted 2 people to assist with the initial workload. They are seeking to bring on an additional full-time person which may or may not be possible given the current hiring freeze. To date, the City has over 700 complaints. I was not able to verify whether the list I sent to the City of 298 addresses is part of this number.

To clarify the story that was written in the News & Record on this topic, the following is important to know.

1. Rawls Howard, with the City's Zoning Department issued a request of all neighborhoods (through the Neighborhood Congress) in April of this year to help the City identify any homes that would not be in compliance when the ordinance went into effect on July 15th so that the City could do some pre-education.
2. On May 18th, I posted on this blog, my preliminary findings.
3. On July 21, I sent the spreadsheet upon which my blog was based to Rawls Howard with the following email:

Rawls -

Attached is a spreadsheet with 298 addresses in the Glenwood neighborhood that, based on my interpretation of the new Front Yard Parking Ordinance, are out of compliance. (Some clarifying notes are provided where I thought it would be helpful.) These addresses were compiled doing a windshield survey during mid and late June, 2009. I'm submitting this to you as a resident of Glenwood (1007 Haywood St.). From my stand point, the ones most critical to addressing are the addresses where the 40% front yard threshold is exceeded. A majority of the other addresses fall into what I call the "grass and gravel" category. Typically, there was gravel placed for a driveway at some point in the past, but now grass grows around, within and over top of the pad, and has worn away to reveal dirt patches and/or the gravel pad does not have a defined edge.

In submitting this I have a few questions that I am unable to derive from the ordinance.

1. How will compliance be handled? A letter (to property owner or tenant)? A notice posted to the door?
2. How long does the property owner have to come into compliance once they have been notified?
3. What are the penalties for not bringing a property into compliance?

Thanks for your time. I have high hopes that this ordinace will be a key piece in making the Glenwood neighborhood more attractive.

3. Rawls responded on the same day asking for the neighborhood association (note the above email was NOT sent on behalf of GGNA) to prioritize the list of violations to which I provided the following response:

Rawls -

I had been giving this some thought. I did not submit the list on behalf of the Glenwood Neighborhood Association - in fact I don't think they are all in favor of strict enforcement, which I am. As such, my opinion is that all of these properties be treated equally under the ordinance and it is not my job to prioritize or select which ones the City chooses to enforce. I would prefer to see action on all of them - at least in the form of some communication from the City. If you don't have enough staff (which I understand), I'd rather take my case to City Council to request they find you additional temporary staff to deal with the increased workload created by passing the ordinance.

I've cc:ed my district representative, Dianne Bellamy-Small on this correspondence so she is aware of the challenges you are facing in implementing the ordinance.

Thanks for you understanding and I look forward to continue to work with the City in improving the quality of life in Glenwood.

Once enforcement begins, fines can be levied until it reaches $500. I was concerned that homeowners (not landlords) who did not have the ability to pay to bring their property up to code nor do they have the ability to comply with the ordinance by parking on the street that the City provide some mechanism of relief to assist this homeowner with coming into compliance. The City is going to look into a program by which, in using a currently defined definition of poverty, or low-income, they would be enabled to assist a homeowner with compliance. Two important notes, a person is out of compliance when the City is contacted about a potential non-compliance by a concerned citizen, OR a city employee that has information about a non-conforming property is required to notify the resident that they are in non-compliance.

The reality is that in Glenwood, many people will be able to comply with this ordinance by simply beginning to park on the street. In other words, there is a distinction between not wanting to comply and not having the ability to comply. I have no doubt that this raises concerns about vandalism and property theft and "property rights", but this is going to be an available solution for many people. Not complying will not be an option. Ironically, or not, having more cars parked on the street would have a net effect of causing traffic through the neighborhood to slow down.

In such cases, where there are site limitations to comply with the ordinance, a homeowner can make an application to the City's Technical Review Committee to review their specific circumstances.

And, like nuisance ordinances, noise ordinances and other neighborhood issues, the effectiveness of this ordinance in contributing to a cleaner, more aesthetic neighborhood relies, in part, on citizens taking a role in identyifying properties that are not in compliance. To do so, call the Planning Department at 373-2144.

If you have further questions, or want to see a copy of the Frequently Asked Questions, you can contact Fred Boateng at 433.7258 or fred.boateng@greensboro-nc.gov.