Permit-Only Parking Gets Mixed Reactions

Though residents asked the city to do something about overflow parking from El Dorado High School onto nearby streets, some of them say they are not happy with the solution.

A permit-only parking program went into effect last week on Brookhaven Avenue and portions of area side streets, to the dismay of some in the neighborhood.

“If I have a party in my home, my guests would have to use El Dorado High School parking lot. It’s just not convenient,” Stacia Walton, a 17-year Brookhaven resident told the City Council.

“That’s a public street,” Walton said. “This solution does not satisfy the majority of the people.”

Earlier this year, the city received complaints from some Brookhaven residents about cars blocking driveways, traffic congestion, speeding, noise, people changing clothes in public and trash in streets and gutters.

The culprits, those residents said, are people from outside the area who park on the street to use athletic fields and attend sports activities at the high school. Homeowners requested a resident-only permit parking zone as a way to solve the problem.

The City Council in August approved the request, and last week city workers posted signs and issued five parking permits for each residence.

Council members agreed this week to keep the permit system and review it in one month. Meanwhile, city staff members will meet with dissatisfied residents to try to resolve differences.