Vomit on the sidewalks. Cars driving into utility poles, or onto front steps. “Lewd acts” in parked vehicles. The residents of neighborhoods near Blue Back Square and LaSalle Road have seen it all.
A combination of high traffic, illegally parked vehicles and those vehicles’ drunken passengers — or drivers — have plagued the residential streets for years now.
But after more than two years of community meetings and town staff work, a new pilot program restricting parking on some neighborhood streets may offer relief.
The new parking restrictions — beginning as a pilot program in a neighborhood south and west of Blue Back Square — will prohibit parking between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on some streets, including on Arapahoe Road.
After a 45-minute public hearing and another hour of discussion, the town council voted unanimously at its Monday evening meeting to approve the new rules.
Town councilor Mary Fay said that the traffic, the blocked driveways and the rowdy behavior constitute a quality of life issue for the neighborhood’s residents.
“We need to maintain our residences and keep them pristine and safe,” Fay said. “We have to be prepared for change in our town and growth.”
The town already has a town-wide street parking ban between the hours of 2 and 5 a.m.
The map outlining the changes also includes some streets where parking is no longer allowed at all on one side, including portions of Woodrow Street and Ellsworth Road. Those one-side street parking bans, while new, are not part of the ordinance change itself — the town already had the authority to make those changes, according to Town Manager Matt Hart.
The new restrictions will be instated over the next several weeks, and the town will then track nuisance complaints and other metrics to see if the restrictions are successful.
If the extended time restrictions are successful, they could be applied to other neighborhoods. If they aren’t successful, the town could backtrack on the rules or try something different.
“If we’re not getting it right, we’ll fix it again,” Town Councilor Leon Davidoff said.
Town staff — led by Town Planner Todd Dumais, Economic Development Specialist Kristen Gorski and Community Services Director Mark McGovern — worked alongside community members to develop the new restrictions.
To weigh both resident and local business concerns, town staff spoke with business owners and managers and also reminded them of a town program that offers businesses discounted rates at Memorial and Isham garages.
Councilor Ben Wenograd said the entire process was a prime example of the town working jointly with its residents.
“This is a model — not only a pilot program for parking — but also a model for how staff interacts with a neighborhood,” Wenograd said. “That’s something that I think we should celebrate.”
Now that the pilot program has been approved, the town will purchase and install new signage to mark the new parking rules. That process is expected to take between 45 and 60 days.
As part of the parking ban vote, the town council also removed the portion of the ordinance that allows residents to apply for an exemption to park on the street. The council plans to have a committee review the section’s language to ensure that the process is clear and not subjective.
In the meantime, the police department will continue to allow exemptions to residents.
Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.
