Heeb Street Parking_Residents Petition/- ~ r'
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August 1, 2008
Dear Mayor BuoAl and Members of Dubuque City Council,
This letter acts as a formal request by the residents of Heeb Street for a review of the Dubuque City Ordinance requiring
anyone pazking on city streets to park with the direction of the flow of traffic. We aze requesting a review of conditions on
Heeb Street that prevent us from safely following this ordinance .
For those who are not familiaz with Heeb Street, it is a dead end street with homes only on one side. Heeb Street is also built
into one of the many bluffs within our city. The way the street is designed, pazking in front of the residences would require
us to pazk facing up the hill toward the dead end. Heeb Street is a very steep hill. There is no outlet other than at the bottom
of Heeb entering and exiting on to Kaufinann Ave.
All the residents here have been property owners for at least the past 10 years, some for nearly 20 years. In this time, we have
all been guilty of disobeying the city ordinance directing drivers to park facing the flow of traffic. The bluff lands where our
homes are located prevent us from being able to park facing down the hill due to the fact that we would be forced to exit into
a fence-line and bluffs that drop for over 150 feet to the ground below. It is simply not possible to park in this manner.
Furthermore, following the new city ordinance directing the parking following the flow of traffic requires residents to have to
turn our vehicle wheels into oncoming traffic, putting us at risk of being hit by oncoming high profile vehicles such as gazbage
trucks or large delivery trucks such as UPS vehicles. We are forced to turn our vehicle wheels out into the street to prevent
accidental rolling due to the grade of our street. Parking on the opposite side of the street facing downhill would render
residents driveways useless, as parked cars would prevent the possibility of making the turn wide enough to enter our
driveways.
Pazking on the left side of the street, facing down the hill has been a natural occurrence for all the residents for the many years
we have lived here. Doing so allows us to exit our vehicles safely on to the sidewalk provided in front of our homes. It has
also allowed us to turn our vehicle wheels into the curb, preventing intrusion to oncoming traffic.
The new city ordinance also defies the logic of entering or exiting our vehicles safely, as we would now be required to fight
gravity when opening our vehicle doors. Parking on the "wrong" side of the street has allowed residents to open our doors
along with the force of gravity and thereby holding them open as we enter and exit our vehicles. The new ordinance requires
us to open our vehicle door against the force of gravity, making it necessary to physically hold our vehicle doors open while
entering and exiting our vehicles, making it nearly impossible for residents to struggle with the force of the doors. This makes
tasks such as getting items such as groceries out of our vehicles nearly impossible unless we are also holding doors open at the
same time.
Handicapped residents or those carrying infants and small children will find this a daunting task There are very few
residents here on Heeb, but we are all affected one way or another with this ordinance preventing us from practicing what has
been safety and common sense for many years.
Winter time is another issue entirely. There is not a single resident of this street that will be able to make the climb up the hill
to tum vehicles around to face the only entrance and exit to leave our street to go anywhere when there is any snow on the
roads. Even with four wheel drive vehicles, the climb up Heeb Street is nearly impossible with any covering on the roads.
Our snowplow drivers do a wonderful jab of clearing our streets, but it is impossible to keep the street cleared down to the
pavement at all times, allowing drivers to safely come and go for our residents.
While we all understand the importance of parking with the flow or traffic, we fonmally request a review of the conditions of
Heeb Street and request that you allow an exemption for our residents and their guests in the name of safety and common
sense. Last, I have neglected to mention that over half the residents of our street have no other option other than to park in the
street as our driveways are either too small to hold all our vehicles, or we have no driveway at all, making parking in the street
our only option.
Enclosed you will find photographs of the Heeb Street area for your review. I am confident upon your review you will
certainly agree that the facts stated above aze true and should be allow an exemption from enforcement of the city ordinance
requiring drivers to pazk with the flow of traffic as a matter of safety and common sense.
Below aze signatures of each resident of Heeb Street agreeing with the facts put forth before you for review. I am confident
that your review of the facts and the photographs, along with the request from each resident of Heeb Street, that you will agree
that it makes the most sense to allow us to park as we have been doing so for many years, continuing the safety of our
residents. We look forward to hearing from you in regazd to this matter and thank your for the time to review the facts set
before you.
S' ~ erely, ,~ ~ ~ l ~ ~~
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Cc: Tim Horsfield, Dubuque City Parking Division; Dubuque Streets Department
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