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Neighbors oppose city fire-lane/no-parking signs on private lane; urge local resolution
Summary
Homeowners on a private lane told the council they were surprised and upset after receiving city letters requiring multiple no-parking/fire-lane signs on private property. Speakers said the signs were excessive, unevenly applied, and that neighbors had not been consulted; they asked the city to reconsider enforcement and communicate alternatives.
Tom Pape and Corey Martin, residents of a private lane in northwest Cedar Rapids, told the council Sept. 23 they oppose recently posted no-parking/fire-lane signs that were placed on or near their private properties without neighborhood discussion.
Pape said he attended a meeting with city staff, including the city manager and fire department representatives, but that the neighborhood had received a letter ordering signs and was not given an opportunity to negotiate the signs’ placement. “We just get a letter saying you will put 4 signs in your front yard on private property, and we're not gonna negotiate,” Pape said, adding concerns about sign spacing and citing the city fire code’s spacing requirement. Pape said the city constructed a wall and fence during a prior street project that changed access and asked whether the city bears any responsibility for the situation.
Corey Martin said three of the four homes on the lane do not want signs and asked why the requirement was being enforced against all properties. “I don't want the city to say what I can and cannot do on my own property,” Martin said, and he urged the council to allow neighbors to resolve the issue among themselves.
Both speakers requested that the council and city staff exercise common sense and seek negotiated outcomes with affected property owners before mandating signage on private lots. The record includes statements from the speakers and notes of their neighborhood meetings with staff; no formal council action on the issue was taken at the Sept. 23 meeting.
