COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — College Station is exploring new policies to limit or remove on-street parking in some neighborhoods as the city grapples with growth and safety concerns, particularly in areas near Texas A&M University.
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City Council Place 5 member Bob Yancy said parking continues to be a pressing issue for the growing city.
"Parking is an issue that continues to require attention from city councils and city staff, particularly in a growing city like College Station, Texas," Yancy said.
The proposed restrictions stem from multiple factors, with public safety being a primary concern. Fire codes and safety guidelines require emergency vehicles to have adequate access through residential streets.
"There are fire code, safety guidelines that obviously the city has to follow. We have to ensure that a fire truck and an ambulance can get up and down a crowded neighborhood street," Yancy said.
Local resident Stacy Abbott said restrictions make sense in historic districts near campus, where narrow streets create traffic challenges.
"You know, as far as the university is concerned down there in the historic district, I can see a need for that. Some of those streets are very narrow, and, you know, coming back and forth from ballgames and things like that on and off of campus, it's pretty hard to drive through there," Abbott said.
A significant factor driving the parking shortage is off-campus student housing, where multiple Texas A&M students live in single homes but own several vehicles without adequate parking spaces.
The situation has been complicated by recent legislative changes. Senate Bill 1567 eliminated the "no more than 4" rule, potentially increasing the number of students living in residential neighborhoods.
"Well, with the passage of Senate Bill 1567, which did away with the no more than 4 rule, you now have the potential for a sizable increase in the number of students in these neighborhoods," Yancy said.
Abbott suggested the city could have better planned for this issue years ago when permits were being issued for student housing developments.
"And that maybe is something that the city could have considered, you know, 10 or 15 years ago when these, quadplexes or Aggie shacks as they're called, when they were, you know, allowing permits for these constructions, maybe that was something that they should have considered," Abbott said.
City officials say there is no "one size fits all" solution to the parking problem, so issues will be addressed on a case-by-case basis for now.
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