By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer
Atherton appears to have relieved one of the torments that accompany construction jobs — poorly parked trucks that clog streets, block driveways, crush landscaping and impede visibility. And all it took was a community policing plan and the concerted efforts of one officer working overtime hours.
No one wants to live near a construction project. The noise, the dust, and the unsightliness can last for years. On Atherton’s narrow roads, parking problems can be one of the biggest headaches. The problem is particularly bad on Park Lane, where there are 10 houses under construction in the 200 block between Elena Avenue and Camino al Lago.
It’s a hotbed of construction activity, representing 10 percent of the roughly 100 residential construction projects currently going on in Atherton.
Frustrated Park Lane residents filled Atherton’s council chambers in January asking for relief. At the time, the City Council turned down requests to restrict parking to residents.
Instead, the council directed Atherton police Chief Bob Brennan to rigorously enforce the construction parking rules the town already has on the books — even if it meant spending extra money on overtime pay for police officers. And it appears to have worked.
Reporting back to the council at the February 15 meeting, residents said the situation has improved.
“The last month has been a positive one,” said Park Lane resident Herman Christiansen. “The key has been enforcement.”
The police campaign has included outreach to residents and construction foremen, as well as issuing more than 30 written warnings, three parking citations and four tickets for moving violations, said Chief Brennan.
Councilman Alan Carlson expressed displeasure that the problem was due to lack of enforcement, not the inadequacy of Atherton’s rules governing construction sites.
“It’s my view that if the police department had been doing its job, we wouldn’t have this problem,” said Mr. Carlson. “There’ve been 32 written warnings in two weeks — I don’t think there’ve been 32 written warnings in the past two years. If the neighbors say there’s a big improvement, why haven’t we done it before?”
Despite the success of the enforcement effort, council members are still considering tweaking the town’s construction parking regulations at a future meeting.
Several residents and Councilwoman Kathy McKeithen had discussed the town’s need for a code-enforcement officer to deal with construction violations and other non-criminal matters, but the idea doesn’t appear to have full council support.
“I don’t believe we need a code-enforcement officer,” said Mr. Carlson. “We have proof that the police department can handle the problem in the most troubling part of town in just two weeks.”
