TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT Hearing addresses parking

BOARDMAN -- Trustees hope to decide by June whether to restrict parking on several narrow streets in the township.
About 45 people attended the first of a series of public hearings Monday scheduled through April to determine whether to restrict parking to one side or eliminate it altogether from 18 streets.
The streets present problems for emergency vehicles responding to a call when cars are parking on both sides, township officials have said.
Monday's hearing covered Afton, Argyle and Buena Vista avenues and Beechwood Drive.
Concerns
Ron Joseph, who owns two houses on Argyle, said he'd like to see parking eliminated on both sides of the street.
When snow piles up, it's difficult for some residents to pull out of their driveways because of the number of cars parked on the street.
Anita Miller of Beechwood agrees.
She often has a car parked on either side of her driveway, making it difficult to get out. She says she ends up running into her own yard to avoid hitting those cars and trying to get out of her drive.
Neighbors across the street can't back into the street, she said, but use her driveway.
Her son was nearly hit riding his bicycle in his own driveway when a resident across the street backed into her driveway before pulling into the road, she said.
Some residents worried that during the holidays a parking restriction would make it difficult to host parties and family get-togethers.
Other hearings scheduled:
March 14: Clifton and Homestead drives and Erskine and Leighton avenues; March 28: Maple Drive and Melrose, Romaine and Sciota avenues; April 11: Shadyside, Terrace and Willow drives and Stanton Avenue; and April 25: Woodrow and Woodview avenues.
After hearing from the residents, trustees will decide whether to restrict the parking to one side of the street or eliminate it. Decisions could be made street-by-street or trustees could opt for the same choice for all of the streets.
"Right now, everything is on the table," Trustee Thomas Costello said.
Parking restrictions also could be adopted for other streets in the township, trustees said.