News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cookeville Planning Commission voted to delay a vote on new residential parking districts Monday night.
The districts are designed to limit street-side parking by non-residents. Commission members said they had questions about the specific language of the regulations. Planning Director Jon Ward said his department will compile answers for consideration at the August meeting.
The Planning Department crafted the idea as a way to help residents of 8th Street between Jefferson and Washington. Several residents said Monday night they have seen their neighborhood turned into a parking lot since Tennessee Tech upped parking fees.
“It had always been a very quiet street, even when school was on at Tennessee Tech,” 30-year resident Kris Ballinger said. “The last two years have changed everything.”
Ward said it’s not just the number of cars along the street, but those vehicles are blocking driveways and hydrants. Resident John Bartlett said he has gone several weeks without trash pickup because of cars limiting public works crews.
“I leave the trailer hitch on my Suburban to give me that much more room so they won’t get that close to my bumper,” Bartlett said. “It’s gotten that bad.”
The older homes along the street were designed with on-street parking. One resident said the driveways are minimal with access directly from the sidewalk.
68.4 percent of the residents in that area have signed a petition asking for the city’s help. The commission agreed that residents have a problem. Planning Commission Member Eric Walker said he wondered if there were not other regulations currently on the books that could be used to better fix the issue.
The parking district regulation would be available to any residents across the city. As written, it would require that the residents wanting the district to pay for signage and decals. Neighbors along a street would ask the planning department to conduct a traffic study. If the planning department approved the parking district designation, it would be sent to the City Council. The council would hold a public hearing to consider approval.
Ward said the residents would likely have to deal with the issue over the fall semester.
In other business, the planning commission approved a 16-lot plat for Cabot Lane Subdivision at 1501 Bunker Hill Road. A seven-lot subdivision at West Cemetery Road received preliminary plat approval. Six-month extensions were granted for three projects.
