more discussion on "parking enforcement on the 100 block of T St NW"

See the original from 3/3/2011 Bloomingdale Neighborhood blog post: http://bloomingdaleneighborhood.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-discussion-on-parking-enforcement.html

Now see this additional Email exchange -- supplied by Bloomingdale resident Brice McCracken:

From: Brice McCracken
Sent: Tue, March 8, 2011 8:44:49 PM

Just wanted to update you on the progress we have made in the last week. I have continued to actively engage the members of the ANC and our Councilman about our parking concerns. While the majority of the comments I have received have been extremely supportive of the issue, I have received one comment (included below) which advocates continuing the Sunday ``business as usual`` policy for parking enforcement. If you could please again add this to the daily email and to the blog, I want to make sure that all Bloomingdale residents have a chance to voice their concerns to our elected representatives.

Thanks,

Brice


---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Brice McCracken
Date: Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 8:35 PM
Subject: Re: [BCA Board] Re: FW: Parking Enforcement in the 100 Block of T St NW (Constituent Concern)

To: T Street NW Resident:

Cc: tj quinn , ``John T. Salatti`` , ``Harry Thomas (COUNCIL)`` , ``Ayawna Chase (COUNCIL)`` , ``Fine CSA, Michael L.`` , ``Youngblood, Hugh`` , ``Fournier, James`` , bca-executive-board @ googlegroups.com

I could not disagree more. The only sustainable solution to this problem is enforcing parking laws in our neighborhood. I am not trying to take away or minimize the importance of churches in our community, however I do not think it is fair for them to have their members and congregants parking wherever they choose on Sundays because they aren`t willing to spend a few extra minutes to find a legal parking spot in the neighborhood. I assure you that we WILL make headway on this issue with or without you. However, since this is our neighborhood, I would like to involve you in the solution.

Brice


On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 2:11 PM, T Street NW Resident wrote:

This is not a policing issue, nor is it a law and order issue, nor is it a parking enforcement issue -- and as long as it is framed as such --- there will be no ``sustainable`` solution. If we can delete the law & order language, and indeed start talking about community institutions and traditions -- their past and current value , and what ``sacrifices`` we as a community are or are not willing to make -- then we MIGHT make some headway.

On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 4:28 PM, tj quinn wrote:


All,

I am happy to help in any way possible. I also live within a block of a church and I certainly share your pain, Brice. I have called the police on a number of occasions when Sunday visitors have blocked the entrance to the alley and my garage. I have been fortunate in that the police have always been responsive but on one occasion I did have to work a little too hard to convince an officer to write the ticket. Anyway, please keep my posted with regard to next steps.

Best regards,

Teri Janine Quinn
President, Bloomingdale Civic Association

parking enforcement on the 100 block of T St NW

See this Email exchange originating with an Email from T Street NW resident Brice McCracken.


I am working to address the parking issues on Sunday in Bloomingdale due to church goers that illegally park in the neighborhood. Can you please post something to the blog encouraging folks in the neighborhood to contact Councilman Thomas and their ANC commissioners about the problem? I think the more people drawing attention to this issue the faster it will be resolved.

Thanks for your assistance with this very important issue.

Sincerely,
Brice McCracken


Begin forwarded message:


From: "Thomas, Harry (COUNCIL)"
Date: March 3, 2011 8:51:14 AM EST
To: "james.fournier9@verizon.net" , "anc5c03@gmail.com" , "Chase, Ayawna (COUNCIL)" , "Johnson, Nicole (Council)" , "Pittman, James (COUNCIL)"
Cc: "john.salatti@gmail.com" , "brice.mccracken80@gmail.com" , "Chase, Ayawna (COUNCIL)" , "finessetax@gmail.com" , "terijanine@gmail.com" , "bca-executive-board@googlegroups.com"
Subject: Re: Parking Enforcement in the 100 Block of T St NW (Constituent Concern)

Thanks for copying me I am working with the ministers to address these concerns

----- Reply message -----
From: "James Fournier"
Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2011 7:02 am
Subject: Parking Enforcement in the 100 Block of T St NW (Constituent Concern)
To:
Cc: , , finessetax @ gmail.com, terijanine @ gmail.com

John,

Thanks for passing this along.

Brice,

The issues raised in your e-mail have been around for a long time and I believe Commissioner Salatti's response highlights the current state of affairs. I would be interested in seeing the photos that you have.

- James

Mar 3, 2011 01:28:30 AM, anc5c03 @ gmail.com wrote:

===========================================

John,
Thank you for sharing. I look forward to working with everyone to develop sustainable solutions.

Hugh
On Mar 2, 2011, at 23:11, "John T. Salatti" wrote:

Dear Brice,

As fate would have it, I received another e-mail Sunday concerning church-related parking and the dangers such parking can sometime cause. I take these e-mails as evidence that the time has come to discuss these issues more widely. So before I say anything else, let me note that I have copied my fellow Bloomingdale Commissioners, James Fournier and Hugh Youngblood, and I have copied my fellow board members of the Bloomingdale Civic Association. This parking issue is one that they all have an interest in and an issue that will require all their creative, positive input to resolve. As full disclosure, I live 100 feet from a church, St. George's Episcopal at 2nd & U NW.

As for your specific questions regarding parking enforcement on Sundays, let me offer three basic points. First, without question in the District of Columbia, the unwritten rule is that parking enforcement around churches is essentially suspended. I say "unwritten" because I am sure that no one will in writing and officially say that, but nonetheless that is, so to speak, the God's honest truth. One can park with immunity in ways on a Sunday morning that virtually any other time will result in a ticket. This means that getting the violations dealt with in the manner you quite vigorously attempted is not likely to have much impact. Second, the Department of Public Works, which handles basic parking enforcement, does not generally do enforcement on weekends in residential areas like Bloomingdale. The areas you note in your e-mail are commercial districts and are handled differently. That said, Parking Enforcement does come out on occasions during the weekend and a request can be made to them to specially come to Bloomingdale on Sunday. However, as I noted, such enforcement would fly directly in the face of long-standing policy. Third, police officers do write parking tickets on weekends, but again they generally will look the other way on a Sunday morning.

So let me offer another suggestion. I have very good relationships with almost all the pastors, rectors, etc. in and around Bloomingdale as well as a very good relationship with Rhode Island-North Capitol Ecumenical Council; most, but not all, of our neighborhood churches are part of the Council. With that in mind, I would like to bring the commissioners and the Bloomingdale Civic Association officers together with the Ecumenical Council and any other church in the area (I think specifically of the Eritrean Christian Church at 2nd & S and World Missions Extension Center at 1st & Randolph NW). In that venue, we can discuss with the ministers the concerns that you and others have raised and look for positive solutions.

The churches are vital and historic parts of this community that have felt less-than-welcome at times by the actions of some neighbors. So it behooves us to approach them in the spirit of mutual respect and in the spirit of positive collaboration to avoid both bad feelings and, more importantly, preventable accident or injury. I am confident that I can arrange that meeting.

But first I will confer with the commissioners and civic association officers to consider solutions and options that we can present to the pastors before we meet with them. Solutions will be important part of the discussion; we'll also want to let them know about the soon-to-open Flatiron Building across T Street from you; the repopulating of that building will only exacerbate the parking shortage. So a little strategic, early, and thoughtful discussion on our part would be helpful.

In the mean time, I am glad that you brought up the photos that you have taken. Please save them. Perhaps we can turn photos into a PowerPoint presentation to show how the parking issues are creating some dangerous situations around the neighborhood. I'll be back to you about those.

Thank you for raising this matter, Brice. Parking continues to be a real problem for the neighborhood. Our businesses, although they don't actually generate much of a parking problem currently, are regularly accused of contributing to a parking shortage in the neighborhood that is almost completely attributable to the positive growth in the neighborhood over the past 15 years. Bloomingdale has almost no vacant homes any more, and many houses have been divided in multiple units. That's the basis of our parking issues. But as our neighborhood continues to grow and our businesses continue to thrive, the shortage of parking is going to become a greater and great concern.

So please give me and the others a little time to come together and then to meet with the pastors. Please continue to document significant parking violations. Contact me any time with information, questions, and requests for updates.

Have a great day,
John
--
John T. Salatti
Commissioner, ANC 5C04
Vice President, Bloomingdale Civic Association
(202) 986- 2592
Together, Building a Better Bloomingdale


On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 10:56 PM, Salatti, John T. (ANC 5C04) wrote:

-------------------------------------------
From: Brice McCracken[SMTP:BRICE.MCCRACKEN80 @ GMAIL.COM]

Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 10:56:28 PM
To: Thomas, Harry (COUNCIL); Chase, Ayawna (COUNCIL); Salatti, John T. (ANC 5C04);
Subject: Parking Enforcement in the 100 Block of T St NW (Constituent Concern)

Councilman Thomas and Commissioner Salatti-

I moved into a condo at 125 T ST NW, in May of 2010. Since that time, I have noticed that every Sunday parking between the hours of 10am and 3pm becomes an issue due to persons attending the various neighborhood churches. Today, the parking violations committed by these individuals elevated to becoming a safety hazard for residents including me. At the intersection of 2nd and T St, cars were parked in clearly visible "No Parking" areas. These cars were even parked in such a manner as to partially be blocking T St NW. After also noticing cars parked in the bus stop at 2nd and Rhode Island Avenue, I proceeded to make a report via the 3-1-1 website to report the violations. When I returned home a few hours later, I noticed that all of the vehicles were still illegally parked and no one from DC parking enforcement or the police had come through to ticket these vehicles. When I called 3-1-1 this afternoon to again make another report of the illegally parked vehicles, I was informed by the 3-1-1 operator that there is no parking enforcement on Sundays. I know this to be false, because on numerous Sundays when I am out in Chinatown or Dupont, I have observed and on at least one occasion, been the recipient of a parking ticket in these areas. If these areas of DC are able to have their parking enforced on a Sunday, why am I not able to have parking enforced in my neighborhood? None the less, when I called 3-1-1 this afternoon, I was eventually connected with 9-1-1. The dispatcher told me that the police would be dispatched. After several more calls, I never saw a police officer come through and I did not observe any of the vehicles receive a ticket for their illegal parking.

After placing my third call to 3-1-1/ 9-1-1 for parking enforcement, I decided to walk through the neighborhood and take pictures of the illegally parked cars. I have approximately 20 pictures showing how many vehicles were illegally parked in this two block radius. I am willing to provide these pictures to you in hopes of illustrating for you just how bad this issue is. I hope this can be resolved this week, if not please know that I will continue to contact 3-1-1 (and if needed 9-1-1) until this situation is addressed and resolved.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Brice McCracken
100 Block of T St NW
Washington, DC 20001

seeking parking for rent around 1st & Rhode Island Avenue NW

See this request from a resident near 1st & Rhode Island Avenue NW:

I'm looking for someone who has parking for rent around Rhode Island and 1st NW.

seeking offstreet parkng on or near the unit block of Randolph Place NW

See this request:

PARKING: I am looking to purchase a parking spot(s) or garage in south Bloomingdale, preferably on the unit block of Randolph Place, N.W. - ideally in the alley between Randolph and R Streets NW, or close to it. If anyone has a lot (or knows of a property owner with a lot) of which a certain amount is not needed and can be used for parking, please let me know. A covered parking spot(s) or garage would be perfect, but a basic private parking spot will do as well.

Barring all of this, my second-best choice would be renting a spot. Thank you.

Please reply to house@stargard.de .

Truxton Circle resident seeking offstreet parking

See this request:

hey there, I’m a resident @ 1st and Q st MW and am looking for off-street parking for rent close by. any ideas?

please email me terrance3000@gmail.com, or call/text: 202. 321. 4832.