The City of Plymouth is rethinking its parking restrictions, after complaints from a local resident. Last month, the Board of Works approved the installation of “No Parking” signs on Harrison Street, from Michigan Street halfway to Center Street, in an effort to ease traffic.
Mandy Metsker told board members Monday that the change has led to a lack of convenient parking for her family. “I’m kind of just wondering if there’s some sort of compromise we can come to,” she said. “I’ve got a teenage daughter that’s driving now. There are sex offenders in the area. I don’t want her parking a block back, coming home at 10 o’clock at night from work or wherever. I really don’t. I don’t want to go past the alley. I have a single driveway. I’d like some help from my city.”
Metsker was issued a ticket by the city’s code enforcement officer for parking in the grass next to the street. She said that the area had previously been designated as a parking pad. However, she said the city eventually decided not to allow parking there, and the space was replaced with grass.
She said the removal of this parking space, combined with the increase in renters in the neighborhood, have led to the traffic problems there. Board member Mike Delp expressed regret for not having asked local residents for their input before approving the parking ban. “I don’t think you should be to blame that it’s changed in the last 14 years, and certainly it has,” he said. “We’ve got bigger trucks trying to make a turn. I don’t know if buses used to go down there. But it’s changed for you. It’s changed for the city. I’m now sure why you’d need to take the brunt of it. I, personally, am okay with giving you one parking spot, but it’s not a guarantee that it’s your spot.”
Board members also discussed the possibility of only enforcing the parking ban at certain times of the day. In the end, it was decided to keep the parking ban in place at all times, but allow for the extra parking space on the street in front of Metsker’s home. In the longer term, board members agreed to look into the possibility of widening the street, to allow more room for truck and bus traffic, as well as parking.
Additionally, the Board of Works decided to waive the ticket issued to Metsker, a decision that was later ratified by the Common Council.
