Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	David L. Corliss,
FROM:	Jonathan Douglass, City Clerk/Assistant to the City Manager
CC:	Tarik Khatib, Police Chief
DATE:	October 9, 2013
RE:	Football Yard Parking Exemption Request – 808 Maine St

Background

Section 17-410.30 of the City Code generally prohibits parking vehicles in front and side yard setback areas, except on code compliant driveways. This section also provides that the City Commission or City Manager may suspend enforcement of this prohibition in certain areas for periods not to exceed 24 hours. The city has an administrative policy, last amended at the direction of the City Commission in 2009, allowing parking in front and side yards in certain areas on days when the University of Kansas has a home football game. The administrative policy states that amendments to the policy will be considered by the City Commission or City Manager on a case by case basis as requested, and currently allows yard parking in three areas (also see attached map):

(a) The Oread Neighborhood (defined here as bordered by 9^th Street, West Campus Road, Tennessee Street, and 14^th Street);

(b) 1649 Edgehill Road;

The policy, and the resulting patchwork of approved locations, does present enforcement challenges that the Police Department regularly confronts on game days. Officers must consult the map to know where yard parking is allowed on game days, and to explain it to people who may be unwittingly violating the law. Citizens have difficulty understanding why yard parking is allowed on one block but not the next, especially if an exemption has been granted for some island of property nearby. As more exemptions are granted this will become even more difficult to explain and understand. There are also no exemptions for basketball game days, and the Police Department often hears complaints and concerns about that issue. It is likely that there are debates within the affected neighborhoods regarding whether yard parking on game days has a positive or negative effect on the neighborhood.

Request to allow yard parking at 808 Maine Street

Colin Mahoney called the City Manager’s Office on October 8, 2013, to request a football game day exemption from the yard parking ordinance for the property he leases at 808 Maine Street. The property is outlined in yellow on the attached map and can be seen in the attached photos. The open ground immediately south of the house is where vehicles have parked in the past (Mr. Mahoney was informed by the Police Department recently that parking in the yard is not currently allowed at this location). Mr. Mahoney indicates that the property owner does not object to game day parking on the yard. Vehicles are able to access the yard from the alley to the rear of the property, although it does appear from tire tracks in the dirt that some vehicles have driven over the curb and brick sidewalk to park in the front yard. I believe that Mr. Mahoney is willing to restrict vehicles to accessing the yard from the rear only so that vehicles do not drive over the curb or sidewalk.

Notification

Staff has mailed a letter to the adjacent properties (including across the street and alley) and has emailed the Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association to notify them that the City Commission will be considering Mr. Mahoney’s request on October 15, 2013.

ACTION: Receive a request to amend Administrative Policy AP-79, to allow yard parking at 808 Maine Street on University of Kansas home football game days. Direct staff as appropriate.