In case you haven’t heard, the City recently decided to make the west side of Arizona Avenue a tow-away no-parking zone in an effort to provide safe movement for emergency and sanitation vehicles.
Neighbors were notified of the decision by mail on June 16, three weeks before it was to go into effect. They quickly organized a community meeting on Wednesday, June 22, at the Land Trust to discuss the notice. Two City employees—Valencia Hudson, a staffer for councilmember Natalyn Archibong; and Cotena Alexander, the Public Works Department’s engineering manager—attended the meeting.
As a result of neighbors’ complaints about the notification process and the short time frame, Public Works commissioner Richard Mendoza has delayed the parking plan until August so that it can be discussed at the NPU-N meeting on July 28.
The issue will also be on the agenda at the next Lake Claire Neighbors meeting, on July 21. At both meetings, neighbors will be given an opportunity to discuss problems with the parking plan and offer alternatives. LCN is also working with the City’s Public Works Department to schedule a site visit of the street with neighbors before the meetings.
On June 23, Natalyn Archibong wrote a letter to the commissioner on our behalf, in which she passed on three alternative solutions generated by Arizona residents:
1. Install signs on Arizona restricting parking near the corner of Arizona and New York.
2. Paint the curbs yellow within the no-parking zone.
3. Restrict parking on Arizona from 9 am to 4 pm.
Archibong suggested that if one or more of these options were acceptable, then there would be no need for NPU action.
If you are concerned about parking restriction enforcement on Arizona, please plan to attend the two meetings in July. More important, email your concerns to the following Public Works representatives:
Commissioner Richard Mendoza: rmendoza@atlantaga.gov
Senior public relations manager Valerie Bell-Smith: vbell-smith@atlantaga.gov
Be sure to CC all emails to councilwoman Natalyn Archibong: narchibong@atlantaga.gov.
For more information on the matters discussed at the neighborhood meeting, or to offer ideas, contacts, or information that might help residents fight the proposal, you can email the Land Trust board at communications@lcclt.org.
For information on parking restrictions in the City of Atlanta, check out the City’s parking flyer and this summary of the City’s parking laws and regulations.