This morning I met one of my fellow committee members at the main gate of Umstead just before 7 am. Of course it wasn't open , since it wasn't yet 7. We wanted to do an early run, not as early as we might have if the park was still accessible from Graylyn Road, but, early enough. Well, at around 7:10 we got tired of waiting for the ranger to open the gate and headed back to Ebenezer Church Road, with the intention of parking on one of the neighborhood streets. We found spots and no sooner had gotten out of our cars than a resident left her house and met us on the street. She wasn't very happy about us parking on the street and informed us that if we did not leave she was going to call the State Police to have our cars ticketed. She had done this before. Apparently, since the Graylyn entrance had been closed to parking many cars were parking on her street and around the neighborhood. She was clearly upset about this and actually suggested we park in the lot of the church at Ebenezer Church and Graylyn. So it wasn't okay to park on the public road in her neighborhood, but, it was alright for us to park on private property! I started to discuss the situation with her but quickly realized there was no point. So we got back into our cars, found another place to park, and finally went on our run.
Lessons Learned:
1. Other people besides the users of the park are being impacted by the closing of the Graylyn entrance.
2. You can be ticketed on public streets even if there are no "no parking" signs.
3. Don't expect to enter the park through the main Glenwood Road entrance at 7 am.
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3 comments:
The person can call the police, but they won't give you a ticket if it is a public street with no "No Parking" signs. If she doesn't want people to park there maybe she should talk to DOT. They might be happy to put up "No Parking" signs there as well to protect the neighborhood from all these "criminals" trying to use a public park.
Why don't we put the people who are signing the petition to park on Graylyn Road and Reedy Creek Road in the situation of the folks who live there or near where they are wanting to parkw and who have to put up with people parking in front of their houses. This is the scenario the petition signers (and others) should think about.
“I want to park in front of your house to walk in your neighborhood. Then, I want to invite about 100 or more of my friends to walk with me and park in front of your house, and your neighbors houses too. I'll only be a few hours. And by the way, I may block part of your driveway or your neighbors driveway with my car. I know you won't mind. Also, I'll probably use your driveway or your neighbors driveway to turn around when I get ready to leave your neighborhood. I think since this part of the road is in the DOT's right of way and although there are "No Parking" signs up and down your road, I should have every right to park here and you shouldn't say anything about it and neither should the DOT.”
Do you think that if this situation was happening to the people signing the petition, or doing the illegal parking, that they would be so eager to sign a petition to park here? I don't think so. If someone wants to go to Umstead Park, they should use the entrances that have been designated for them to park, not in front of someone’s home. These people should have more consideration of these homeowners. I'm sure they would want the same consideration for themselves in a similar situation. By the way....quit blaming the DOT for everything!!! They do a great job!!
I assume one of the upset residents living near Umstead has spoken up, although, I would ask them to be more specific. Are you referring to Graylyn road? Given the current parking situation on Graylyn road,I certainly have sympathy for the people living in the Umstead Forest neighborhood as well as members of Ebenezer Church. If folks have been leaving their cars on neighborhood streets or in the church parking lot that is a problem. With respect to parking on Graylyn road before the DOT contruction, in recent years it has not been possible to park "in front of someone's home". There is only one relatively new house directly on the road and it was illegal to park on that side of the road. The few other houses along Graylyn are also located on the side of the road that did not allow parking and are protected by a wooded buffer. Are you saying that in spite of the no parking signs people were parking illegally and causing damage to the driveways along Graylyn Road?
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