UPDATE:
The City of Rockdale delayed the enforcement of a new parking ordinance at a Planning and Zoning Commission workshop Tuesday night.
Enforcement was supposed to start Sept. 11, exactly one year after city council approved the ordinance.
But city enforcement crews found over 600 homes in violation.
Dozens of residents were present to speak out against the ordinance.
"I just don't want big brother telling me how I could live in my own private home," Chip Fuller, a resident said.
The ordinance requires residents to park on improved surfaces like asphalt, grass pavers and concrete.
It would force residents to pay to upgrade existing driveways and prevent them from parking in the grass or their front and side lawns.
"As you all know, many of the residents will struggle to comply with this new ordinance," another resident, Gordon Todd, said.
City Manager Tim Kelty said the delay would allow the commission to make necessary revisions before starting enforcement.
"My goal is to really make corrections to the ordinance, so we can attack the problem to the extent that we're able to without making it be a burden to the citizens of Rockdale," Kelty said.
One possible revision to the ordinance could add gravel and crushed rock to the list of accepted materials.
The Commission plans to meet Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at city hall to discuss more revisions and possibly take action.
However, any changes made would have to go before city council for approval.
PREVIOUS STORY:
The Rockdale Planning and Zoning Commission is hosting a public workshop at 6 p.m. Tuesday to revise its new parking ordinance that's sparked backlash among residents.
- The Planning and Zoning Commission is revising a new parking ordinance that limits street parking and parking on lawns.
- The ordinance is causing concern among low-income residents — most of which have small or no driveways.
- The commission is considering accepting gravel or rock driveways.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Jeanette Behrens has always had a rock driveway.
"We've been here since 2017," Behrens, a resident, said.
But a new parking ordinance is threatening that.
"If you have like what we have, it should be grandfathered in," she said.
It's one reason the city is deciding to revise it.
"We've identified over 600 properties in the city, residential properties in the city in violation of the ordinance as it's written," City Manager Tim Kelty said. "So to, you know, ask our residents to comply with that, you know, is gonna create some, some burden on them."
The ordinance requires our neighbors to park on surfaces like asphalt and concrete.
"It is something that, you know can clutter and degrade the overall property values," Kelty said.
And stops them from parking in front and side yards and on streets.
Most locals have small driveways or no driveway at all.
"Well, I can't fit my work truck in the driveway," Long-time resident Christian Carrasco said.
And most were made of gravel or rock — surfaces that the Planning and Soning commission are considering accepting.
"I think that's great. There's more people that can afford something like that," he said.
But they believe the city shouldn't interfere.
"We already have taxes on our properties and we pay for our properties and I view it as my property," Carrasco said.
Unless they're paying for it.
"I mean, if they're going to make people, they're going to have to do something. They're going to have to get a grant. They're gonna have to help people pay for it," Behrens said.
