Commission approves amended residential permit parking zone on Paris Avenue after debate over boundaries and petition rules

The Traffic & Parking Commission voted to approve a residential permit parking zone for a range of addresses on Paris Avenue after commissioners amended the motion to tie the restriction to the specific addresses listed on the neighborhood petition.

Councilman Tom Cash (District 18) introduced the request, saying the measure is “one of the main tools that we have” to manage spillover parking from the nearby 12 South commercial corridor and to protect residential curb access. “This is a parking management problem,” he said.

Staff presenter Emanuel Matias told commissioners the Paris Avenue request is part of a larger plan for 12 South that aims to convert commercial curb space to short‑term parking and move long‑term parkers into lots or regulated two‑hour spaces. Matias said surveys counted about 65 parking spaces on Paris between both sides and that staff observed occupancy up to 95 percent during much of the day.

Commissioners pressed staff on two technical points: how petition support is tallied and the precise petition boundaries. Commissioner Cornet noted the code requires a 75 percent consensus and said she was concerned the application appeared to count parcels rather than individual residents. “The denominator of that is unclear because it does say total residents and not just property owners,” she said, adding she would vote no without clarity on whether the petition uses residents or parcels.

Staff responded that the department relies on petition signatures tied to individual addresses and that parcel counts are used because there is no reliable way to verify how many people live at a given address. Staff said the petition submitted covered house numbers 1206–1516 on one side and 1207–1519 on the other, and noted that the narrative description (from 12th Avenue South to Belmont) differs from the listed addresses; commissioners amended the motion to make the petitioned addresses definitive.

Commissioner Holler and others raised concerns about potential impacts for Belmont‑facing properties near the project area and asked whether delivery, event parking and handicap access had been considered. Staff confirmed a nearby disabled resident’s designated space will be relocated to the same side of the street as that resident and that delivery/loading issues would be considered in parallel as part of the broader 12 South package.

The commission approved the amended motion by voice vote. The recorded vote in the meeting transcript was a voice vote and did not include individual tallies; the motion’s outcome was approved. The commission directed staff to continue coordinating a zone‑level plan for 12 South that could include two‑hour time limits on 12 South and an alignment of other adjacent RPPs.

The decision is subject to the usual appeal process; staff reminded members that appeals of commission decisions may be filed in Davidson County chancery or circuit court within 60 days. The commission also asked staff to return with a broader 12 South package in the coming months.