Dolores Eiden said she didn't know how the town of Vienna let parking along Desale Street go unchecked for so long.
Eiden lives in a single family house just around the corner from where the town recently posted a set of new parking permit signs. The signs, which allow permit parking only between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., were posted in response to an overflow of cars coming from the nearby Vienna Park Apartments. Eiden said her property was not affected by the extra cars that were parked on Desale. Even so, she said she could sympathize with some of her neighbors.
"That had been a mess," Eiden said. "They used to go out there and fix their cars. It was disgraceful."
THE TOWN INSTALLED permit-only signs along Patrick Street, adjacent to the apartment complex around a year ago in response to complaints from homeowners. Then a couple of months ago, after a new round of complaints, the town installed the signs along Desale between Patrick and James Streets, a block away from the apartments.
Vienna police officers examined the cars parked along Desale before determining that the signs were necessary. Officers noted how many cars came from people who lived in the nearby homes, and how many did not.
"The apartments are basically most of who were taking the spaces," said Robert Carlisle, Vienna chief of police. "We just have more cars than spaces. As they go out farther and farther in the neighborhood, we get complaints from people who can’t park in front of their own houses."
But Vienna Mayor Jane Seeman said parking problems shouldn't extend any farther than the new signs along Desale Street. The Korean Central Presbyterian Church, which faces the apartment complex from the other side of Cedar Lane, has agreed to open its parking lot to Vienna Park residents for night parking. Seeman said this should alleviate the parking problem.
LAST SUMMER Seeman met with management from the apartment complex, representatives from the neighboring Korean Presbyterian Church and other local officials.
"Everyone accepted a piece of responsibility for the problem," Seeman said.
Current building standards call for two parking spaces per unit, but the Vienna Park Apartments were built before those standards were in place. Seeman said there is just over one parking space per unit on the complex property. Even so Patti Moore, property manager for the apartments, told Seeman there are always open parking spaces on Vienna Park property.
"So that means those cars [parked along neighborhood streets] belong to people who are not on the lease, and don't have parking stickers," Seeman said.
According to Seeman, Moore indicated that one of the major factors in the parking overflow was overcrowding in the apartment complex.
"Patti said she was in the process of going through the leases to make sure the number of people on the lease matched the number of people in the units," Seeman said.
Seeman agreed to check back with Moore six months after the summer meeting to assess the parking situation at the apartments. Although Moore has been on maternity leave, and Seeman has been unable to contact her, the mayor said the new parking arrangement seems to be working. She hasn't heard any requests for additional parking permit signs along other streets surrounding the apartments.
Lynn Weinman lives in the nearby Bowling Green neighborhood, where there has been some overflow from the apartment dwellers. He said some parking permit signs have gone up in his neighborhood, but they are not yet in front of his house.
"The parking situation bothers some people more than others," Weinman said. "I can walk an extra 50 yards if I need to."
Carlisle said he can understand both sides of the argument over parking spaces. He said similar parking complaints surface from time to time in Vienna, often in neighborhoods near school sites.
"The people that are living [at the apartments] are just looking for a place to park their cars," Carlisle said. "On the other hand, people in their residences can’t park in front of their houses."