FARRELL Council alters parking ban plan

The church feels 'targeted' by the city's action, its pastor said.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- Some residents showed up at city council to protest plans to ban parking within 100 feet of certain intersections, but they found out their protests weren't necessary.
The city had already revised its ordinance before final passage Monday to change most of those distances to just 30 feet, the distance Pennsylvania law says vehicles must park from a stop sign.
The issue dealt with some problem intersections that tend to get congested with parking, preventing ready access to police and fire emergency vehicles in 12 specific locations.
City council introduced the ordinance in July with the 100-foot ban, prompting the protests.
Weekend problem
There's a problem only on Friday and Saturday nights, James Callahan Jr., representing Twin City Elks Club at 301 Staunton St., said before Monday's vote. The nearby intersection of Staunton and Lee Avenue is one of those targeted.
Callahan thought the 100-foot ban was too stringent but said the club could live with the 30-foot law.
The Rev. Martha J. Sanders, pastor of the Hour of Power Full Gospel Tabernacle at the corner of Beechwood Avenue and Idaho Street, another targeted intersection, said the church opposes a 100-foot ban.
It would lose 12-15 parking spaces if that were imposed, she told council, adding that there has never been a traffic accident at that intersection during church services in the Hour of Power's 25 years there.
"We can't understand why there is a problem," she said, adding that the church feels "targeted" by the city's action.
Morocco said that no one is being targeted but that problem intersections are being addressed.
Besides, it's now a 30-foot ban, not 100 feet, he told Sanders.
"We can live with 30 feet," she said.
Morocco said the ban won't be enforced immediately, because curbs have to be painted and signs erected designating the no-parking areas.
gwin@vindy.com