Dedication of Resident Parking Only zones in the Belmont Neighborhood Association
January 12, 4pm
Statement to Media and Neighborhood
Avi S. Adelman, Vice-President,
BelmontNA
I promised to talk about Resident Parking Only in 500 words or less. Please bear with me for 580 words?
I can really explain RPO in THREE words – Quality of Life.
For more than ten years, we focused on what we believed to be the root cause of the problems – Lower Greenville’s businesses. Many of us standing up here have the scars to prove how tough – and futile - a fight it was.
- We had a neighborhood association that ignored our pleas for help for years
- We had a City Hall that could not or would not provide a proper level of customer service and code enforcement to the residents
- And we have a so-called entertainment district that attracts more than 7,000 people every weekend to an area zoned Community Retail
We were tilting at windmills, and it was getting pretty old.
The BelmontNA Board knew we had to use the Arcadia Theatre marquee money to protect the Quality of Life in the neighborhood.
We knew Resident Parking Only was the best tool for accomplishing this goal.
But we did not – and could not – wave a magic wand, click our heels and say, “There’s nothing better than RPO, there’s nothing better than RPO…”
It’s just not that easy.
We – including Belmont NA officers and our friends who live here – worked together to get the signatures of more than 70% of the property owners and / or residents who live on these streets.
City Staff came out and counted the cars for a few weekends, just to be sure we were not hallucinating.
And finally, the City sent us a bill for the new signs - $420.
The Association also paid for at least two hang-tags for each resident who signed the RPO petition.
In total, the Belmont Neighborhood Association spent more than $1,000 for the RPO on these two streets.
We have two more RPO petitions in process right now.
And we will continue our efforts to bring RPO to any street within our boundaries if it meets the requirements.
And as long as we have the money, we will pay for it.
Today, we give back to our neighbors their Quality of Life. You deserve it. We all deserve it.
I call on all our neighbors to continue to build the association and work to solve other quality of life issues. RPO is just the first step in taking back our neighborhood.
To the Lower Greenville NA, I say – Let my people go.
As of today, our problems are now YOUR problems. Take your heads out of the sand. Your own residents – many of whom are here today – are tired of seeing their problems with bars and noise ignored.
And start saving your pennies now, because soon you will need RPO.
To the businesses on Lower Greenville who are crying in their beer about RPO taking away what they consider ‘their parking spaces.’, I say
Maybe it’s time to consider a new business model. We really do need another coffee shop down here.
And finally, to Ms Hunt, I ask that you continue to make the time to talk to these people, your constituents. Please listen to our concerns and force the changes needed at City Hall to improve our Quality of Life in the long-term.