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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013 02 25 Other - Presented by Jeffrey Kazaka Date: February 25, 2013 At the February 25, 2013 City Commission Regular Meeting, Mayor Lacey noted that the attached document with comments from resident Mr. Jeffrey Kazaka (who spoke during Public Input) would be part of the Record. Written Comments for City of Winter Springs City Council Meeting p 1 of 2 Glen Eagle Support of Maintaining Current Parking Ban and Enforcement Jeffrey Kazaka,Vice President,Glen Eagle Homeowners Association February 25, 2013 Mr. Mayor and Members of the Council: My name is Jeffrey Kazaka and I'm Vice President of the Glen Eagle Homeowners Association—a community of 257 single family homes located within Tuscawilla.The Board of Directors of the Glen Eagle HOA and I are diametrically opposed to the moratorium imposed on the current on-street parking ban and absolutely against its possible dilution or elimination. In the next few minutes, I will go over the reasons why, which include health, safety, security, crime and financial. The complete absence of parked cars in our neighborhoods deters potential criminal offenders by increasing the risk that they will be seen or recognized when committing crimes. Having parked cars on the streets invites crime because they are secure vessels in which criminals can hide and wait and survail and study people's daily patterns without being noticed. Rapes, robberies, auto thefts and other larceny, burglaries, and drug deals would increase if the parking ban is eliminated. And there are numerous press reports available in a cursory Google search that show when neighborhoods install parking bans that crime actually dries up! One example, in 1995, Santa Ana California's French Court neighborhood installed a parking ban. In the LA Times article about the effects of the no parking ban, a resident said "I used to hear glass breaking, but when I looked outside, I couldn't see anyone because they would just hide behind cars. Once the cars were gone, there was no place for them to hide. It took away the element that allowed them to thrive. "And there's nothing to stop the homeless with cars from parking in our neighborhoods.There is no way to tell who belongs where unless police are going to drive around our community checking every license tag on their computers Rolling parking enforcement back encourages violation of our homeowners covenants that our neighborhood consist of only single family residences. Multiple families may decide to move in given the new freedom to park as they wish and people may apply to turn their home into a duplex through an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) application. In fact, multiple families may decide to buy in our neighborhoods and park unencumbered. The streets in Glen Eagle are 20.5 feet wide. Having two average sized 5.5 feet wide cars parked 1 foot from the curb allows only 7.5 feet of clearance, far too narrow for school busses,garbage trucks, UPS, postal, FedEx, lawn service, pest service,various commercial vehicles, and fire and rescue vehicles to pass. In a diverse neighborhood like ours, it is not uncommon to see an ambulance come to the aid of a senior or child with a medical emergency in their home. How will the ambulance get there if the streets are lined with inconsiderate people keeping their cars there? Having parked cars in the street makes it hard to see children running after a ball or riding bikes or skateboards, it makes it hard to avoid seniors and other pedestrians suddenly appearing from behind a Written Comments for City of Winter Springs City Council Meeting p 2 of 2 Glen Eagle Support of Maintaining Current Parking Ban and Enforcement—2/25/2013 car, or to be able to see pets darting into the street and car doors swinging open with cars parked there. Online I read about a situation in which a grandfather watched in horror as his 3-year old grandson riding a tricycle was crushed to death by a garbage truck backing up to go around a parked car in the street. And there were pages of stories like that just about trash trucks. Parked cars make our neighborhood look unattractive and congested and will lower our taxable property values at time we particularly cannot afford this.The lack of parked cars is a point of pride and a selling feature of our homes in Winter Springs. And where will lawn and other service vehicles park that come into our neighborhood, in the street and block the street totally? HOAs are made of volunteers, most of whom have daytime jobs, so how does an HOA monitor street parking without spending money to have a private company issue our violations, etc, if the HOA does not allow street parking? Enforcing existing parking statutes brings law enforcement into our neighborhoods, keeping them safer. Police are more visible,thus leading to a decision to desist from crime. How many times has a wanted criminal or suspect been picked up due to a simple parking infraction? So this is where I have to question your real motives at play here... Where do these things come from? Usually it's someone who lives in an apartment complex or house without a driveway who is tired of carrying groceries into their home. In the case of a bona fide hardship situation,taking into account if there is truly a legitimate need, perhaps a waiver can be issued. It is well known that commercial and multi-unit developers can put pressure on mayors and City Councils to relax parking rules.These developers need to play by the existing rules and provide safe, adequate and suitable off-street parking for apartment/condo residents and their guests. And the City seems to me to be desperate for new sources of revenue to supplement its well known traffic ticket franchise as you have recently communicated that you intend to begin strictly enforcing on such heinous crimes as jaywalking and bicyclists running stop signs.We need the police to return to firm but fair community policing. Enforcing the existing on-street parking restriction is a good place to start. Thank you.