ThisWeek CW 01/22/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/01/19/groveport-parking-banned-on-hydrant-side-of-dorchester-st-.html

Groveport City Council voted unanimously last week to follow the recommendation of the Madison Township fire chief and restrict parking on Dorchester Street.

Council approved emergency legislation Jan. 12 to prohibit on-street parking on the fire-hydrant side of Dorchester Street; because the ordinance carried the emergency designation, the ban took effect immediately.

In November, Groveport City Administrator Marsha Hall told council members that the city had received complaints from a Dorchester Street resident who said some neighbors were parking on the hydrant side of the street.

“When I went back to the legislation, I found that Dorchester Phase 1 of Elmont Place did have the no-parking prohibition as part of the plat, but this section is Phase 3 and did not,” Hall said.

The city then erected no-parking signs along a section of Dorchester Street where they hadn’t been installed previously, based on the original subdivision language prohibiting hydrant-side parking. Residents who had been parking on that side of the street challenged the legality of the signs.

Hall discovered that, given the width of the road — 32 feet — the city did not have authority to implement the parking prohibition without further legislation.

Madison Township Fire Chief Robert Bates completed a further study of the street before presenting his findings to council in December.

“After we put the signs out, I heard from these residents and promised we’d do more research and talk to the fire chief,” Hall said.

“The fire chief reviewed the information and said that even with 32 feet, when a fire truck is there with the doors open to work, it would be a tight fit, so he said he would recommend the no-parking for safety reasons.”