Thanks to the many readers who sent us this link to The Washington Times follow up story. We especially thank Sgt. Emerman for being so helpful!
Another reader sent us the following:
Thanks for providing this blog - it's nice to hear what's on people's minds.
I happened to stumble on this article about church parking in a Capitol Hill electronic neighborhood newsletter from this July 2005 and got a kick out of it - thought I'd share. Hyperlink is here.
Article starts on page 12 and the dialog between residents vs. churchgoers is remarkably similar to what's going on here in Logan Circle.
FINALLY, we have one "comment" to make: do NOT use our comment feature to spam us with your website. If you have an article of interest, send us an email.
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18 comments:
I definately noticed a "police presence" this past Sunday, but still no issuing of tickets to the many illegally double parked cars. This greatly troubles me because it sends the wrong message. When police drive around our neighborhood or sit in their patrol cars surrounded by double parked vehicles but not issuing tickets, it sends the message that the illegal activity is acceptable and will not result in repercussions. In fact, I even saw a police officer take back a ticket from a complaining church parishoner that was parked in front of a fire hydrant which is absurd. The bottom line is that double parking is illegal and the police need to enforce the law uniformly without exception. We, the residents, should not be treated as second class citizens. I like having the churches here, but I think that the congregations need to learn to respect the community residents and abide by the laws just like everyone else.
I agree with Eric. Last week, I missed an important school class because my car was blocked in by a person attending funeral services at Vermont Baptist. I feel sympathy for their loss, but I don't understand why they had to block in my car -- especially when the lot owned by the church across the street sat empty and chained. That same day, our street did not receive trash collection because the garbage truck could not make its way through the row of double parked cars. I myself go to church and I love doing so, but I would never disrespect a community or its residents like that.
I think a critical notion that is not being addressed enough is that the bulk of these illegally-parked vehicles seem to be coming from out-of-"state."
If the DC Government is going to subsidize their illegal parking by not ticketing, then I assume reciprocity will be granted in our neighboring jurisdictions.
Right?
Good point Anonymous. As a DC resident that pays taxes, it irks me to no end that most of the cars illegally parking around the churches have tags from Maryland. I pay taxes for DC roads but they don't, yet they have superior parking privileges to me. How ridiculous is that?
And why can't the churches provide for parking lots for their parishoners. In the referenced article that is the subject of this posting, a church on the Hill rented space from a commercial lot. Since these churches have chosen not to buy land to provide parking for their members, they should at the very least rent spaces in the neighborhood to ease the burden on us tax-paying residents.
Thank you for your thoughts, Sgt. Emerman, as always.
Point well taken that MPD does not have the resources to provide parking ticket patrol in this area 24/7. However, if the DC Government were serious about fixing this issue, it would realize that it could employ dedicated parking enforcement staff on Sundays based solely on the revenue generated from the tickets they will write!!
Please understand (and I think I am speaking for all) that our beef is not with MPD - you are simply working within the confines the District gives you - rather it is with the District Government. Why are my (SIGNIFICANT) tax dollars going to subsidize the illegal, sometimes dangerous and unfair parking practices of out-of-state residents? It just doesn't make sense.
I agree with JCH that the press is ignoring the safety issues for the more "sexy" and controversial convenience argument; but, if you can't get to work, school or other appointments that is still a valid concern and complaint. (However, JCH makes great other points and I agree we should try to get the press to focus on them, too.)
I understand that the police are trying to "walk the line" and I think that the weekday problem has gotten somewhat better. I am still frustrated by the "where will all the cars go" and "this has been going on for a long time" arguments, though. The cars will go to the same places that non-parishoners go during the week for work -- i.e., to legal spaces that may require (heaven forbid) walking a few blocks. And, who cares if this has been going on for a long time, it is illegal, rude, and just plain wrong.
I hope all you bloggers go to the Wednesday night meeting and demand that Chief Ramsey start addressing this issue. I plan to be there and to make my views heard.
Ironically, there is an article in the Washington Post today about the Mayor's plan to increase the fees for residential parking permits to reduce congestion in neighborhoods. (Go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011601057.html?referrer=emailarticle.) The idea is that by increasing fees and limiting the time that non-residents can park in neighborhoods, parking will be less congested. This is a perfect example of Eric's comment regarding treating residents as second class citizens. As long as double-parking violations are not punished, the mayor's plan will do nothing but tax DC residents even more for services we are not getting. Now, residents will have to pay more for these useless permits while church parishoners, most of whom neither pay DC taxes or permit fees, can continue using our streets as their own personal parking lot. How convoluted is that?
This has become less of a Sgt. Emerman issue and more of a voting day issue. The DC City Council should remember that, as another commenter stated, those with "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION" tags are the ones who put them in office.
I agree with Aaron. We should all go to the Public Safety Forum at the Washington Plaza Hotel at 7 p.m. on January 18 and express our concerns by demanding that our city leaders enforce the law without exception. This is the best way to make our voices heard, especially if there is press there.
A point should be made that the MPD is not burdened by enforcing parking rules 24/7.
Also, I agree that the city does treat us like second class citizens. The churches act not like good neighbors but instead like bullies. I am feed up with this and will vote to out any politican that isn't taking this seriously (not that my vote matters much).
Its a joke to say the churches are a part of the community. Most of the church goers don't live here so where is the community voice? Its coming from us and it says to get a handle on the parking issue.
Sgt. Emerman I don't understand your agrument. How can you say you have to consider the parking problem and the displacement issue of enforcing double parking laws? There are parking problems 24/7, not just on Sundays. If that was really the issue then the city would never enforce double parking laws.
The whole issue is a city wide double standard and ripe for a lawsuit. I can think of two legal grounds to take a case to court. I only hope this matter gets taken care of before it comes to that but I doubt it.
The parishoners, if they cannot find legal parking, should avail themselves of public transportation options. Or at the VERY least, carpools. This is not Los Angeles or Miami or even New York where the urban sprawl requires a private auto to get from one end of town to another.
The churches and their congregants ARE part of our community, as much as the condo owners and businesses are. They serve a vital and important role in the neighbhorhood.
Where I think many of us are getting frustrated is that the majority of these cars seem to befrom outside the district, and double-parking on our streets, that our tax dollars pay to keep in good repair, is simply unfair. The Mayor's proposal regarding residential parking permits underscores the lack of consideration the District has for its taxpayers and voters in this particular regard.
It gets back to an issue of fairness - why should I get ticketed heftily when my "one hour maximum" meter runs out while I'm at the DMV? There's "no place else to park" there either - yet I doubt that argument would have much weight in this case. So I'll say to the congregants what the DMV folks told me: take the Metro next time.
I agree with Lewis and Eric.
Questions for Sgt. Emerman. Just to clear up your double parking policy. Are you waiting until after the Feb. ANC meeting to start ordering your officers to issue tickets on Sundays or will it start sooner?
Also, what is the procedure you want us to follow for double parking? Do we call the non-emerg. number and wait by our car for an officer to show up? What if an officer doesn't show up? Who tows the car or does the officer go with you into the church to get the car moved? If the officer does go into the church will he still issue a ticket?
I respectfully disagree with the statement that "on Monday through Saturday ... there are ample open spaces available for citizens to park their vehicles legally on the street. That is not the case on Sundays when the number of visitors and residents is at its greatest." In the first place, though there may be more residents in town on Sunday, there are substantially less workers and therefore actually many more spaces available in the city on the weekend. (Hence, the lack of zoning restrictions and parking meters.) I drove around on Sunday and I can tell you for sure that there were plenty of legal parking spaces available on 14th, on U Street, on Rhode Island, and so forth. This argument that there are not ample spaces is absurd. The issue is laziness and convenience ... parishoners don't want to walk 3 or 4 blocks to find the legal spaces. But, that is what you have to do in all other aspects of life and church attendance should be no different. So, please, let's at least be truthful and acknowledge that Sunday is a much lighter traffic day with many fewer persons in the city and therefore more parking available. The bottom line is that the issue is not one of space availability but rather of an erroneous sense of entitlement on the part of the parishoners and the residents are justifiably outraged.
I am certain that the congregations have enough buying power to negotiate significant discounts with WMATA for Metro cards. Illegal parking in front of the houses of worship should therefore be limited to those who are physically unable to avail themselves of public transportation and/or walk from a legal spot a few blocks away.
I should mention that this issue does not inconvenience my family as it does others in the sense that we are not blocked in by the illegal double-parkers (we are stuck paying $180 a month for a garage because there is "no place else to park" - 'cept we do it legally). However, it's pretty scary coming up on a row of cars in the traffic lane that you do not expect to be stopped, and it is more scary to fear that it is only a matter of time before tragedy strikes when a fire hydrant is blocked (ticketing is not going to to unblock the hydrant, only towing will....)
Sgt. Emerman said...
"This is not a purely church issue. Regular citizens are doing the same thing."
ABSOLUTELY TRUE! And enforcement should happen in those instances as well. Owning property in an area does not give one any more entitlement to park illegally than it does our visitors.
Sgt. Emerman. I am sorry if you were offended by my comments, and I appreciate the work done by the police, but I stand by my opinions.
While more people may be home and therefore less parking available on Sundays on Vermont Avenue, a residential district, it is equally true that many businesses are closed at 9 am on Sunday morning on 14th and U Streets (business districts only 2 blocks away) and therefore more parking is available in those areas that could be used by these parishoners.
And, yes, illegal parking is a huge problem in front of Whole Foods and the cleaners at the 1400 block of P Street and is wrong and illegal. The difference is that traffic enforcement is on that block virtually every hour of the day and enforcement is strong and without exception such that "regular citizens" are penalized, unlike churchgoers. My point is that we are entitled to the same protection here in our community as the businesses are given on 14th and P.
For the record, I think that the police are trying to do their best on a very difficult issue. I just get frustrated by the implication that the way I choose to spend my Sundays is somehow less important because I am not going to church, which is the effective result of allowing church members to block in my car week after week after week. It is not the fault of the police that the congregations are doing this, but unfortunately for them they are caught in the middle.
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