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Church-sponsored diagonal-parking plan draws council concerns over safety and precedent
Summary
Christ Community Church requested city permission (and offered to fund initial striping) to convert curbside spaces to diagonal parking between 5th and 6th Streets; the council asked for a traffic/safety study and resident outreach before any final approval.
El Centro — Christ Community Church officials asked the council to allow diagonal curb parking on portions of Orange Avenue to enlarge available parking for services and neighborhood users. The church offered to pay initial striping costs estimated at about $15,000.
City engineering staff explained the benefit of diagonal parking — more marked stalls and clearer parking counts — but warned of tradeoffs including reduced visibility when backing into traffic, potential conflicts with bicyclists and pedestrians, maintenance obligations and long-term city liability once the city inherits the striping. Staff suggested a traffic and safety analysis that could recommend measures such as stop signs at transition points.
Pastor Chris Nunn (the church’s representative) said the church canvassed many nearby residents and reported mostly favorable responses; he noted the church already operates shuttles and has a reciprocal parking arrangement with a nearby city lot but said an additional 30–40 diagonal stalls would ease Sunday congestion.
Councilors asked staff to secure a formal traffic/safety evaluation and to document neighborhood support with written outreach. Several council members said they were sympathetic to the church’s needs but unwilling to change the public street configuration without an engineering study and clear community buy-in. The council did not vote on the striping request and directed staff to return with a report and community input.
