Lyon Village Parking Restrictions In the Works?

What started as a fight over planned parking restrictions on one Lyon Park street seems to be spreading.

Last week, residents of N. Danville Street and several other Lyon Village streets noticed county staff measuring street widths. Staff were reportedly checking to see if the streets were too narrow for trash trucks and fire trucks, as was the case with N. Edgewood Street in Lyon Park.

According to Lyon Village Citizens Association President H.K. Park, the county is considering restricting parking to one side of Danville and other neighborhood streets that county staffers have deemed too narrow. On Monday, the LVCA will meet to discuss the possible parking changes with county staff.

According to an email sent to residents, the meeting will address:

• “The justification for this new policy–whether your street may be next and how the county will select which side.”
• “The frequency of garbage truck and fire truck problems.”
• “How this policy comports with policies that encourage fewer driveways and garages and more on-street parking.”
• “Whether any accommodation will be made for handicapped, elderly, and parents with infants who need close access to cars.”
• “Whether the ‘problem’ is caused primarily by construction, commuter, and other non-resident vehicles that might be regulated in some other way.”
• “Possible unintended consequences of any such restrictions, such as making it easier for cars to cut through the neighborhood and travel at higher speeds.”

Representatives from several other civic associations have said they plan to attend the meeting “because they believe their neighborhoods are next,” according to Park.

Among those who will be in attendance is Natalie Roy, president of the Lyon Park Citizens Association.

“The County needs to come up with a more uniform county wide-approach to the parking issue,” Roy told ARLnow.com via email. “As we stated in correspondence to the County Board, there needs to be a fair and equitable approach to the parking issue. The County needs to address issues with all of the streets that do not meet the 2006 width guidelines, not just a select few.”

Roy said that while the neighborhood recognizes the importance of emergency vehicle access, they’re still awaiting for an explanation of why the county is only starting to enforce width guidelines now, half a century after many of the roads in question were first built.