Manhattan delays parking ordinance for Lincoln Education Center after resident objections

The Manhattan City Commission on April 15 voted unanimously to remove from the consent agenda and continue to May 6 consideration of an ordinance that would change parking and school-bus rules around USD 383’s Lincoln Education Center.

The action followed public comments from nearby residents who said the plan, as drafted, would eliminate street parking on parts of Tenth Street and leave longtime residents without sufficient places to park. The commission voted 5-0 to pull the item and then voted 5-0 to continue the item to the May 6 meeting.

The ordinance on the agenda (second-and-final reading of Ordinance No. 7,745) would have amended multiple sections of the city code related to school-bus parking and no-parking zones around the former East High School campus. Residents said the draft ordinance, together with restricted parking signs recently placed by USD 383, would remove nearly all curb parking on the block.

Todd Gabbard, who said he lives at 1000 Pierre Street, told commissioners the proposed change “would be quite a hardship for me and several of the other people that live on there,” because he has only one on-site parking space. Tom Gabon, a neighbor who said he has lived at his house for 40 years, said his household has three cars and “the closest I can park is a block away,” making routine trips such as carrying groceries difficult. George Matthews said the neighborhood had been shown three options and that the version that went forward differed from the option most residents preferred.

Wyatt Thompson, interim director of public works, explained the city's version was based on neighborhood surveys and the request from USD 383 to address a bottleneck where cars parked on both sides of the street. Thompson said the red shading shown on the map indicated where staff proposed no-parking zones and that the ordinance text reflected that proposal. He also said staff would contact USD 383 about removing the restricted-parking signs the district had placed on angled stalls south of Houston Street; those signs, Thompson said, were not authorized by city ordinance.

Scott French, the city fire chief, told the commission the fire department uses Knox boxes on gates at commercial properties and would require a Knox box or similar access for any gated private road in the annexed area to ensure emergency access.

Given the mix of resident concern and an apparent mismatch between the city's ordinance language and signs installed by USD 383, the commission agreed to pull the item from consent and return with more information, including the results of the neighborhood survey and confirmation from the school district. The commission’s action preserves the current curb parking rules until the May 6 follow-up.

Votes at a glance: The motions to remove the item from the consent agenda and to continue it to the May 6 meeting both passed 5-0. Commissioners voting yes in the roll calls were Commissioner Adamczyk, Commissioner Opelt, Commissioner Mota, Commissioner Minton and Mayor Karen McCullough.

The commission asked staff to provide the neighborhood survey results and to coordinate with USD 383 before the follow-up meeting. Staff recommended the item remain off the consent agenda to allow time for that coordination.