Gumwood Drive Residents Want Permitted Parking

Residents of the 3100 block of Gumwood Drive say there's too much non-residential parking on their part of the street, and have asked the Hyattsville City Council to establish a residential parking zone and enforce residential parking restrictions in the area.

"I'm fed up with people taking advantage of our block," said resident Chris Slezak at a public hearing on the matter before the council's Sept. 13 meeting.

Slezak and four other people who were there to support him asked the council to give residents of the 3100 block two permits and two guest parking passes, and to have regular patrols in the area to cite cars without either.

Of the 18 homes on the block, a petition was signed by 11 residents and accepted by the council on July 12, said Hyattsville Police Chief Douglas Holland.

On July 26 the city sent out a questionnaire about the matter. Four were returned, Holland said.

Since then, the police department had been out to the block 11 times, he said at the meeting.

Residential parking is part of Chapter 114 of the city's code. The 3000 block of Gumwood Drive has residential parking, Slezak said.

Councilman Matthew McKnight (Ward 3) said he had a hard time parking when he went to talk to Slezak at his home.

"I saw a resident have to park illegally down on the lower part of Gumwood because [they] couldn't find parking in front of their house," he said.

If residents see people parking illegally during the day they should call the city's code enforcement department. By night, illegal parking should be reported to the city police.