Although residents parking their vehicles and recreational vehicles in their front yards of their homes isn’t very attractive to the neighborhoods, having a blanket ordinance to prevent this won’t work, said Commander James Paschall of the Brownsville Police Department.

The Brownsville City Commission on Tuesday discussed the Brownsville Police Department’s traffic ordinance to see what will work and won’t work.

Paschall told the commission a resident of District 2 had asked if the police department could update its traffic ordinance that would prevent residents from parking their vehicles in their front and back yards. Brownsville’s current ordinance does not address this issue.

Paschall said the police department reviewed ordinances in numerous cities in the state to see what enforcement they have.

“When we took on this task for a possible vision for this ordinance it appeared initially to be a cut and dried assignment,” Paschall said. “However, as we got further into it and discussed possible issues to address the issue it became clear that just a simple ordinance prohibiting parking on yards doesn’t take into account older and more rural neighborhoods.”

Some of the streets Paschall cited were Calle Milpa Verde, Impala Drive, Shary Avenue, Arthur Street, Keith Lane, JoAnn Lane, Calle Pluton, Calle Espacio, Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid streets.

In the newer subdivisions where many have Home Owners Associations, they already have regulations to address the issue, so such an ordinance would not be necessary, he said.

“A blanket ordinance… does not take into account for older neighborhoods and rural areas in our city where compliance with this type of regulation would be cost prohibited for the resident or simply not feasible for that particular area,” he said.

Mayor Trey Mendez inquired what made the streets that Paschall mentioned to stand out among other city streets. “What is it about those neighborhoods?”

Paschall said not only is Calle Milpa Verde a large street but it is a heavily trafficked one as well.

“Putting cars out on the street would cause a serious problem. We are going to have traffic accidents, pedestrian issues. It’s a nightmare.”

The commander said regarding Shary Avenue and Keith Lane the streets are narrow and the lots housing the homes are small.

“In a small house you may have three or four adults and you may have three or four cars…there’s an issue there as far as trying” to get them to abide by such an ordinance. “Putting them out on the streets, I don’t like that solution. We don’t like that solution. We just think it is unsafe.”

Paschall said the department likes the City of Houston’s ordinance in which neighborhoods have to request such regulations for traffic concerns.

“Putting a blanket ordinance, I don’t think it works for Brownsville, I don’t think it works for any city.”

The commander requested that the police department be allowed to continue to research the issue and have an additional workshop before coming back to the commission with a recommendation.


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