By Sarah Lombardo
A red curb on the corner of Saratoga Vista and Thelma avenues has some neighbors seeing red.
Members of the Public Safety Commission voted to recommend that the red curb be removed after about 10 residents showed up at the Aug. 12 Public Safety Commission meeting to protest what Director of Public Works Larry Perlin called "an innocent attempt on the part of staff to respond to one resident's concerns."
The neighbors called the red curb in front of Thelma Avenue resident Estelle Suarez's house ugly and unfair.
"[The red curb] is ugly, it's an eyesore, and I think it hurts our property value. It implies this is a problem corner," said David Garrett, a Saratoga Vista Avenue resident. "It's the only red curb in the whole area. It's unfair to us for her area to be carved out for no parkers and, in effect, that means they can park in front of any one of our houses."
According to Perlin, Suarez has requested many times over the past two years that the curb in front of her house be painted red to prohibit people from parking there. In her complaints to the city, Suarez said her disabilities keep her bedridden, and noisy teenagers often park on her corner and keep her awake.
"I have to rest a lot and have my bedroom on the corner. I am greatly disturbed by people parking there," she said. "I'm only a property owner. I'm just an old lady. But I have my right to have my peace and quiet."
But neighbors said the neighborhood is quiet.
"My bedroom is right there on the street, a few feet from the street. I'm a light sleeper. I would have heard if there was any noise whatsoever and I would have been the first one out there to complain or call the police and I have heard no problems whatsoever," Melanie Garrett said.
Kristy Tallman, a Thelma Avenue neighbor, said: "I don't see any safety or traffic issues on that corner. I believe [the red curb] is a nuisance."
The debate sparked questions into the appropriateness of Perlin's decision to paint the curb based on one resident's request.
"I'm looking to the law. Should we have been notified of this before or not?" asked Doreen Oliver of Saratoga Vista Avenue.
Commissioner Angie Fredrick said she was concerned about what she thought was a trend of not notifying neighbors about upcoming actions.
"On the commission for the last couple of years, we've had several problems where neighborhoods have not been communicated with as to the intent of what's going to happen," she said.
Fredrick said that, although the administrative decision to paint the curb is within Perlin's jurisdiction, she thought there was no reason for it.
"I do not feel that somebody because they are disturbed can have a red zone painted in front of their house," she said. "I don't understand the reasoning for it having been done."
As the director of Public Works, Perlin has the authority to decide such issues as designating curbs and parking zones. Perlin admitted that there was no traffic or parking problem for the red curb to remedy, but that he decided to paint the curb because Suarez was so adamant in her requests.
He said the curb was painted only on a temporary basis and that its permanence depended on what kind of public reaction the curb received.
David Garrett said he felt the system is flawed.
"You shouldn't rush to paint [the curb], then go real slow to unpaint it. Before it was painted, we should have had a hearing and you could have verified ... that there was absolutely no parking problem at all."
Suarez has 10 days to appeal the commission's decision and bring it before the City Council to decide.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, August 21, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved