Atherton: Residents fed up with construction parking Atherton: Residents fed up with construction parking (January 25, 2006)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

Pity the poor residents of Park Lane in Atherton. Along the 200 block of that street, between Elena Avenue and Camino al Lago, there are 10 houses under construction.

As a result, drivers have to slalom through clusters of parked construction vehicles, and residents often can't back out of their driveways safely.

Residents, fed up with the situation, filled the Atherton Council chambers at the January 18 meeting to lobby for some relief. Herman Christiansen submitted a petition from residents who want street parking to be restricted to people who live there, but the council declined to take that step.

"Our policy is not to move a traffic problem from one street onto another," said Councilman Alan Carlson.

Atherton does have a construction parking policy that requires construction vehicles to be parked on-site or along the property's frontage. Eight of the 10 projects on Park Lane must comply with construction parking rules; the other two predate the policy.

"The parking plan is for normal construction situations," said Councilman Jim Janz. "This is not a normal situation that's going on. Ten percent of every construction project in town is on Park Lane right now."

Council members said they suspect that there is an enforcement problem rather than a problem with the existing rules.

They instructed police Chief Bob Brennan to vigorously enforce construction parking rules and if necessary, come back with a proposal for a new code enforcement officer at next month's council meeting. Chief Brennan suggested funding a part-time code-enforcement position that would be filled by an existing officer willing to work overtime.

Mayor Charles Marsala said he planned to hold a meeting with the contractors and developers to discuss the parking situation.

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