The Macalester Groveland Community Council Board approved the resolution of its Transportation Committee to support our Area 21 parking petition in its journey to the Saint Paul City Council. As has been the case at each hearing so far, opponents of the petition did show up, but they were all from residences outside the petition area.

The board more or less felt it was their duty to pass along our petition since we’d done everything we were asked to do and were following a clearly laid out process. Some members of the board expressed sympathy for those who don’t believe parking permits are an appropriate tool for those living in the city, but only one board member ended up actually voting against the resolution.

Next stop: City Hall.

We expect the petition to be heard at the March 21 meeting of the council. Public comment starts at 5:30 in the Council Chambers, Room 300 at City Hall, 15 Kellogg Blvd. W. This is the final step of the process and we will definitely need all the advocates we can get at this meeting.

After a very vigorous citizen discussion, the MGCC Transportation Committee voted unanimously to recommend that City Council approve the Area 21 parking permit changes, including the expansion on Lincoln to Prior. Our next target for advocacy will likely be the 2/15 meeting of City Council, I’ll keep you posted.

Thank you to everyone who showed up to speak for the permit and lend your support. It really helped.

Even though we gathered more than the 60% support for changes to the Area 21 parking permits, the Mac-Groveland Community Council’s Transportation Committee refused to support our petition in December. Instead, it will be brought up again at their meeting tomorrow (Monday, 1/23) at 6:30pm, at the Edgcumbe Rec Center. We really need as many advocates for this permit as possible to join us at this meeting!

In December some vocal neighbors from Lincoln between Prior and Howell complained that the transportation committee would only be nudging the St. Thomas parking problem eastward by supporting permit parking on Lincoln between Cleveland and Prior. This may be the case, but we are following the process the committee laid out for us at their January 2011 meeting. We were offered no resolution for St. Thomas parking issues by either St. Thomas or the city except this permit process. Now is the time to turn out to advocate for the parking permits!

Last night’s presentation of the Area 21 parking permit did not go well. According to Sara Mountain and Steve Gorg, a few vocal opponents carried the day and got the Transportation Committee of the Mac-Groveland Community Council to table the permit instead of lending it their support. Luckily, this is not the end of the road for our parking permit petition effort, just a significant speed bump.

It is best if these permit parking petitions get the support of community councils so that the city council gets a clear sense that the process was a good one and the support of the neighborhood is present. However, the deciding agency on parking permits is city council, not the community council. We can and will still carry this petition forward to city council.

We are not sure which city council public hearing will include our petition as an agenda item. It is likely to be not he evening of Wednesday 1/18, 2/1, or 2/15, but details have yet to be worked out. It is very clear that every one of us who support the new Area 21 permits, including the extension of permit parking to the remainder of Lincoln between Prior and Cleveland, be present at this hearing when it happens.

We took the neighborhood council for granted. We let Sara and Steve carry our burden alone, and that was unfair and unsuccessful. Be ready to speak out yourself for the importance of this parking permit to city council. We will keep you informed about the details of the upcoming meeting.