Navigating Neighborhoods

Sometimes Finding a Pain-free Spot to Park Goes Beyond a Little Open Blacktop

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Norwich Township Trustees are to collaborate with Hilliard police and the Hilliard school district concerning parking problems on Darbyshire Drive, Ridgewood Drive, and other residential streets near Ridgewood Elementary School, 4237 Dublin Road.

“We are trying to find a resolution that is to everyone’s liking (but) there is not one solution to this,” Hilliard Police Chief Michael Woods told Norwich trustees April 9.

Woods said while he is skeptical that everyone can be made happy, he hopes a solution can be reached that everyone can accept.

At issue is the reported practice of parents, or others, parking their vehicles on Darbyshire Drive or other residential streets, and walking to Ridgewood Elementary School to pick up students at the end of each school day.

Dan Humphries, of Cameron Road, did not mince words when describing the disregard some drivers have for blocking driveways or parking along the narrow roads, blocking intersections.

Bus drivers traveling through the neighborhood, for example, cannot navigate the turn from Cameron Road to Darbyshire Drive when vehicles are parked all along one side of Darbyshire Drive, according to Humphries.

Humphries has created a web site-

https://ridgewoodestatesparkingviolations.com/

- to catalogue myriad of parking violations, using private cameras at area residences to record what he posts.

One such camera, Humphries said, captured a person who while he was not at home, parked in his driveway waiting to pick up a student, Humphries said.

Other images and sections of the website show the apparent obstruction of emergency vehicles

Image courtesy of Mr. Humphries

These incidents were a catalyst, he said, for him to take the issue before the Norwich trustees after not meeting with success through other means.

Trustee Chuck Buck said he is “sympathetic” to the problem but any modification would require the safety of children first and foremost.

Hilliard Superintendent David Stewart told trustees the school district has no enforcement or regulatory power whatsoever concerning the manner in which people park vehicles, nor can the district compel parents or guardians to make students ride buses in lieu of private transportation.

“While we encourage parents to use a bus if it is an option, we can’t mandate it,” Stewart said.

Further, the principal at Ridgewood Elementary School has previously communicated with those who drive students to be aware of where they park so as not to block driveways or intersections, Stewart said.

Parking on Darbyshire Drive is permitted but that was not always a case, a change that Humphries views with skepticism.

According to minutes of the Norwich Township Trustees on Jan. 7, 2020, trustees voted 3-0 to remove all ‘no parking’ signs that had been posted within the unincorporated areas of Norwich Township.

According to minutes of the Norwich Township trustees on June 4, 2019, there was discussion of Hilliard police responding to complaints of parents stopping on Darbyshire Drive to drop off students, in apparent violation of the ‘no parking’ signs that were then in place.

According to the minutes, numerous residents and parents addressed trustees to complain about receiving written warnings from Hilliard police for stopping to drop off children, particularly at the intersection of Cameron Road, at the bridge on Darbyshire Drive, or within 20 feet of a crosswalk.

Discussion at the 2019 meeting suggested removal of the ‘no parking’ signs in lieu of creating a drop-off zone.

Google Street View archived from 2019 courtesy of Mr. Humphries website

The ‘no parking’ signs were removed in early 2020- without any addition of a drop-off zone- and the parking problem has since grown as many parents choose to park and walk to the school rather than line up with idling cars entering the school’s driveway from Dublin Road.

“If the parents were lined up (in their cars along Darby Shire Drive), I would not have a problem, (but I do) with them parking,” Humphries said.

“I appreciate everyone bringing this to our attention, we are not going to solve this tonight,” but can begin to work toward a resolution,” Trustee Rick Tidd said.