http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0310/23/m03.html
Parking overflow irks residents
Streets clogged with cars during major games at Memorial Stadium
By Jeremy Hudson
jehudson@jackson.gannett.com
Thomas Grillo can still follow the tire marks made when nine vehicles used his lawn as a parking lot during Saturday's Jackson State University football game against Southern University.
"There were cars parked in between my house and my neighbor's house and a big SUV parked in my back yard," said Grillo, whose Lorenz Boulevard home is just blocks from Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
"And the streets were so clogged with traffic before and after the game that it posed a public health risk. If I needed an ambulance or police at my house, they couldn't have gotten here in time."
The JSU-Southern matchup generally fills the stadium to near capacity, which is 62,500.
Grillo said he called the Jackson Police Department to have the vehicles towed, but was told there was no wrecker available. He had no recourse but to let the cars sit there, he said.
Sgt. Jesse Robinson said parking problems like those Grillo had last weekend are civil matters that can't be addressed until a resident complains about the cars pulling onto their property. Even then, there is no city fine to pay.
"We'll go there to make sure there is no conflict," Robinson said. "We don't have the right to go onto private property unless there is a complainant to see. If they want the car removed, normally, we will have it towed at the expense of the person who parks there."
Sharon Silas, 35, who lives on Taylor Street, said she sits on her front porch whenever there are games at the stadium to steer people clear of her driveway.
"People will argue with you about parking in front of your driveway," Silas said. "I don't mind them parking on the streets, but when they start blocking your driveway, that's a nuisance."
John King, general manager of Que Sera Sera restaurant on North State Street, said he has a schedule of every game played at the stadium and has employees monitoring the parking lot during those times.
"Parking is for customers only," King said. "If someone wants to park with us, we charge them $20 and nine times out of 10 they will not park. It's the park and dash people that give us trouble, but we have people watching out for them."
There is a city fine of $93.50 for obstructing traffic or blocking a driveway, court services officials said.
The traffic influx that comes with high-profile games such as the JSU-Southern matchup normally winds up lining city streets with trash, too. Plastic cups, beer bottles and paper bags from fast food restaurants still cluttered Taylor and Oxford streets Wednesday.
But the litter doesn't worry Grillo as much as the gridlock before and after home games because he fears an ambulance won't be able to make it down his road.
Jim Pollard, spokesman for American Medical Response Inc., said the home games normally don't hamper ambulance service. But service was delayed to several residents last weekend because JSU, Millsaps College and Belhaven College each had home games Saturday.
"We do adapt our plan accordingly when there are home games, so that we can position ourselves better," Pollard said. "We have an excellent relationship with law enforcement and they do everything in their power to help us get to where we need to go. But they can only do so much."
Still, Grillo wishes more could be done. "I was yelling-mad when they pulled up in my yard," Grillo said. "And to find out there was nothing I could do about it made it that much worse."
Parking overflow irks residents
Streets clogged with cars during major games at Memorial Stadium
By Jeremy Hudson
jehudson@jackson.gannett.com
Thomas Grillo can still follow the tire marks made when nine vehicles used his lawn as a parking lot during Saturday's Jackson State University football game against Southern University.
"There were cars parked in between my house and my neighbor's house and a big SUV parked in my back yard," said Grillo, whose Lorenz Boulevard home is just blocks from Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
"And the streets were so clogged with traffic before and after the game that it posed a public health risk. If I needed an ambulance or police at my house, they couldn't have gotten here in time."
The JSU-Southern matchup generally fills the stadium to near capacity, which is 62,500.
Grillo said he called the Jackson Police Department to have the vehicles towed, but was told there was no wrecker available. He had no recourse but to let the cars sit there, he said.
Sgt. Jesse Robinson said parking problems like those Grillo had last weekend are civil matters that can't be addressed until a resident complains about the cars pulling onto their property. Even then, there is no city fine to pay.
"We'll go there to make sure there is no conflict," Robinson said. "We don't have the right to go onto private property unless there is a complainant to see. If they want the car removed, normally, we will have it towed at the expense of the person who parks there."
Sharon Silas, 35, who lives on Taylor Street, said she sits on her front porch whenever there are games at the stadium to steer people clear of her driveway.
"People will argue with you about parking in front of your driveway," Silas said. "I don't mind them parking on the streets, but when they start blocking your driveway, that's a nuisance."
John King, general manager of Que Sera Sera restaurant on North State Street, said he has a schedule of every game played at the stadium and has employees monitoring the parking lot during those times.
"Parking is for customers only," King said. "If someone wants to park with us, we charge them $20 and nine times out of 10 they will not park. It's the park and dash people that give us trouble, but we have people watching out for them."
There is a city fine of $93.50 for obstructing traffic or blocking a driveway, court services officials said.
The traffic influx that comes with high-profile games such as the JSU-Southern matchup normally winds up lining city streets with trash, too. Plastic cups, beer bottles and paper bags from fast food restaurants still cluttered Taylor and Oxford streets Wednesday.
But the litter doesn't worry Grillo as much as the gridlock before and after home games because he fears an ambulance won't be able to make it down his road.
Jim Pollard, spokesman for American Medical Response Inc., said the home games normally don't hamper ambulance service. But service was delayed to several residents last weekend because JSU, Millsaps College and Belhaven College each had home games Saturday.
"We do adapt our plan accordingly when there are home games, so that we can position ourselves better," Pollard said. "We have an excellent relationship with law enforcement and they do everything in their power to help us get to where we need to go. But they can only do so much."
Still, Grillo wishes more could be done. "I was yelling-mad when they pulled up in my yard," Grillo said. "And to find out there was nothing I could do about it made it that much worse."
