For years homeowners on Donald Circle in northeast Lincoln parked their cars and trucks perpendicular to the curb.
It was their way of coping with one-car garages, limited on-street parking and many vehicles.
The cars and trucks fit side-by-side, nose to the curb, leaving driveways and mailboxes clear and enough room to drive around the circle.
But that ended two weeks ago, when someone called police to complain, and officers put warning tickets on windshields of vehicles around the circle.
Vehicles have to park parallel to the curb. It’s the law.
Parallel parking creates a number of problems for individuals living on Donald Circle, said Arnold Radloff, who wrote the Lincoln City Council about the issue.
Radloff parks his Chevy Cruze in his garage, and he can park another vehicle in his driveway. But that leaves two other vehicles, belonging to him and a roommate, to be parked on the street.
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Radloff had a camera installed on his house to keep watch over his parked vehicles after someone broke into an SUV several years ago. But he needs to park the vehicles at his house, not down the street, in order for the camera to be effective.
However, with parallel parking, Radloff can’t always get a space in front of his house.
JoAnn Miller, who has lived on Donald Circle for 50 years, says perpendicular parking has worked for circle residents for four decades.
“We never had any problems with it,†she said.
With 12 houses around the cul-de-sac, it really is the only way to give everyone space to park near their home, she said.
Radloff and at least one other neighbor have block heaters on their vehicles, so they need to be parked close to their homes and an electric outlet.
A neighbor, with a college-age daughter at home, also has four vehicles. Several fit in front of the house when parked at an angle, but not parallel parked.
Other neighbors have very short driveways and long vehicles, which extend into the sidewalk — also illegal.
With perpendicular parking there was enough space for three cars in front of his and a neighbor's house, says Tom Vik. "Now there is room for one car," he said.
The city ordinance is clear — parallel parking is the norm. Angle parking is only allowed by the director of Transportation and Utilities, with the parking spaces marked by paint.
Nothing in the ordinance specifically addresses cul-de-sacs, said Jeff Kirkpatrick, city attorney. But the city doesn’t treat cul-de-sacs differently than other residential streets.
This is a new issue, something that hasn’t come up previously, Kirkpatrick said.
There are two ways to get angle parking, he said: change the city code or get permission from the Transportation and Utilities director, Miki Esposito.
Kirkpatrick isn’t sure changing the ordinance to allow angle parking in cul-de-sacs is the best solution. Such a change would apply to all cul-de-sacs, and angle parking might not work everywhere.
“It could create quite a mess, depending on the configuration,†he said.
Donald Circle neighbors could ask permission for angle parking in front of each of their homes.
Currently, it is not customary for the department to spend money and time painting markings on residential streets for parking, Esposito said in an email response.
“A request like this would typically be vetted by (transportation) staff, as well as law enforcement, followed by a decision by the director.â€
It would be nice to get some angle parking, to maximize the curb space, keep cars away from mailboxes, and allow everyone to park near their home, Radloff said.
With parallel parking, when one vehicle leaves, someone runs out to move their car or truck closer to their front door.
A return to perpendicular parking would be nice, "so we don’t have to be constantly playing musical cars," he said.