This issue was recategorized from Other (Transportation) to Traffic (Sign Concern).

City of Roswell Georgia assigned this issue to Traffic Engineering

I counted 16 yesterday at 4:30 in the afternoon

Thank you for contacting the City of Roswell Department of Transportation. Your additional no parking signs request is being reviewed in the order of priority by our Traffic Engineering Division. Your parking enforcement concern has been reported to the Roswell Police Department for resolution. They can be reached at 770-640-4160 for further follow up information.

Thank you for contacting the City of Roswell Department of Transportation. Your request has been assigned to one of our team members and will be reviewed in the order of priority.

Traffic Engineering assigned this issue to Mike Elliott

Issue 7757406 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue.

The city has decided to prohibit parking on the pavement or within the bike lanes. You will see the attached signs added to the area. This is identical to the parking conditions on Azalea Dr near the Parks or Willeo Rd near the Boardwalk.

Thanks Mike. Will this prohibit them from parking on the grass? That was the main issue. Thanks for getting on this matter.

That sign basically gives them permission to park on the grass as long as they aren’t touching the road. There are about 30 cars down there now. Thanks for nothing Roswell.

The actions taken do not resolve this issue.

Thank you for contacting the City of Roswell Department of Transportation. As our community continues to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic and more and more residents are taking advantage of our wonderful parks and outdoor recreation areas, there has been an increased demand for vehicle parking along the Chattahoochee River. In order to maintain a balance between parking needs and roadside safety, the City has established a policy to allow the parking of vehicles on public shoulders where the vehicle can be parked without encroaching onto the travel lanes, bike lanes, or shoulder pavement. Many signs have been placed along the river to provide notice of the regulation. Motorists that obey these signs will not be ticketed or towed, however, violators of these and other regulations should expect to receive a citation. Local residents are also asked to refrain from unnecessarily reporting vehicles that are not in violation of these or any of the posted regulations, however, the city will enforce and issue citations to violators as appropriate. This concern has been reported to the Roswell Police Department and they can be reached at 770-640-4160 for further resolution and follow up information.

Great - we all know how wonderful that looks with cars scattered everywhere and the general clutter seen there...

Eventually this will result or already has resulted in:
1) Accidents/injuries with people crossing the road where there are no crosswalks
2) Accidents with people pulling into/out of traffic where there are no intersections
3) Erosion of the roadway shoulders
4) Trash left on the roadway shoulders
5) Incidents already being reported between drunken pedestrians and local residents
6) Blatant underage drinking with no enforcement

Apparently calling out the obvious issues with this policy such as underage drinking enforcement, pedestrians crossing where there are no crosswalks, potential accidents, etc... are not allowed as my last comment was rejected...

Brian I agree with you. Almost all of these cars are unloading teenagers. I expect Roswell to decrease my property taxes since they are letting a residential area decline.

This is now the view from my Roswell home. This issue is impacting property values on a Roswell residential street which is going to impact all adjacent home values.

I think it’s time to contact a city council representative. The amount of trash this morning all over the side of the road is ridiculous. It’s all beer cans and beer cases. To everyone’s point this is dangerous and has never, ever been allowed before. The parking lots at the parks are NOT full. As a Northcliff resident, the other main concern is still the spillover into our neighborhood streets. When they run out of parking on the side of the road, our neighborhood is where they eventually go and park on our streets.

Perhaps the first step is a petition.

Is that part of the river considered a public park access? If not then the police should be called. And it’s shameful the amount of litter around there. And on Azalea. This is what people see when they visit Roswell. I don’t recall in years past that many people parked on that section of Riverside. What’s going on????

Margaret C. - No. The parks are clearly labeled with signage. This area was never intended for parking. They are destroying this entire area by allowing parking and access to the river via Riverside. If they want access to the river via Riverside, buy a house nearby. This is all city of Roswell bs.

There is garbage strewn up and down this section of Riverside this morning. Mostly beer cans and other alcohol containers. These are not “residents taking advantage of our wonderful parks and outdoor recreation areas” as stated by the city above. These are kids, most of whom are underage, who come to drink and party since the city has decided to allow this. Leaving their garbage where they please. The roadway shoulders are being eroded and kids are constantly crossing back and forth across Riverside Rd. Some one is going to get killed due to the city disregarding this issue.....

I’ve send an email to mayor and council.

When is the next city council meeting? This is a serious problem that needs an organized response and presence there to address.

Dan or Trixie, since it appears you live closest to ground zero, can you please take some pictures of the garbage and add to the thread?

Here you go. Interestingly right after I took these photos a Roswell van pulled up and picked up all of this trash reported by Dan.

Trash

More Trash

@Northcliff resident: right now the council meetings have been virtual. I don’t know when they will start having them in chambers again. Seems to me if everyone comes with masks and effectively social distances, they could have the public meetings again.

PS, they will have meeting schedule on the website. Usually Monday evenings.

I emailed Matt Judy yesterday who is apparently in charge of parks and rec for city of Roswell. I pleaded our case in hopes to get some type of a response and a reversal of this new decision for parking

I drove along Riverside Road after lunch today, between Old Alabama and Eves, and am happy to report that I didn’t see any cars parked there and most of the trash on that stretch looks to be cleaned up. But of course, this is just a snapshot in time, just on the stretch of road identified in the original write up (1246-1300 Riverside). Hopefully council and the applicable departments can continue to monitor this area and the rest of the Chattahoochee corridor for illegally and badly parked cars, as well as litter. MRCA! (Make Roswell Clean Again!)

They are plenty of them there now

Mike Elliott - can you please weigh in on the recent conversation and comments regarding the list I provided above. My items have been corroborated by others both verbally and with pictures here. How would you suggest we proceed as this is clearly a problem that's not going away. Nor are residents and homeowners going to let this pass without appropriate and swift action from City agencies.

Oh darn, that was fast. You’re talking between Eves and Old Alabama? 1246-1300 block?

Yes, the cars with the kids always start late afternoon. Here is the view right now on Riverside drive.

Holy moly! I see that one car is parked in front of a sign - is that a no parking sign? Yikes! Have the police been notified?

No! believe it or not - Roswell considers that legal parking since they are not impeding the road or the bike path...

Before the signs were changed out to the current signs (attached) the City Administrator, Recreation & Parks Director, Chief of Police and Transportation Director all authorized with the change.

Transportation and Recreation & Parks plan to monitor the area in reference to littering and picking up trash in the mornings. Sanitation will empty the trash cans.

If you see vehicles parked in the travel lanes, bike lanes or otherwise on the pavement - please call the Police Department.

If you suspect any activities that you feel is not legal, you should report it to the Police Department.

Also, we're hopeful that with the opening of the parking at the National Park at Island Ford it will help relieve the situation we are seeing on Riverside Rd.

Very nice of the City Administrator, Recreation & Parks Director, Chief of Police and Transportation Director to decide this without checking with any of the tax paying residents that have lived on and adjacent to this street for years!!

Agreed. I did not purchase my home with the understanding that I was living in front of public park parking. You cannot just decide this independently when the parking is directly behind and in front of residential homes. If the City wants to make parking legal at least 500 feet away from residences that may be fine. But I no longer feel safe nor have privacy in my home and this needs to be addressed. If it is not changing I expect compensation for a loss in propery value. We can hire a Real Estate attorney to review the impact to the residential owners impacted and the City if that is what is required. Just telling the community this has been decided with no discussion or prior notice is not acceptable.

Curious, I’m assuming this area is subject to rising waters when water is let out from Lanier? Are these kids paying attention to that?

That's funny - these adolescents don't care about such things.

That’s true, Northcliff Resident, but my thinking is if they get in trouble, Roswell’s first responders will have to help them. It’s a huge liability.... do the signs say enter the river at your own risk?

Thanks Mike. We now know who to contact about this BS.

The City Code, specifically Chapter 22.4.1 - Parking on the Street actually allows vehicles to be parked along all public rights-of-way for up to twelve (12) continuous hours, which includes all roadways and rights-of-ways which are the subject of this SCF discussion. This is the law currently passed and in effect by the City of Roswell Mayor and Council, and has been on the books for a very long time. The signage installed along the river roads by City staff, as authorized by the City Administrator, Police Chief and Transportation Director described above places further restrictions on parking beyond he restrictions in the current City Code -- they do not relax, remove or eliminate any City Code restrictions as has been implied above, on the contrary they add and clarify certain restrictions consistent with state law and traffic safety practices. The signage specifically prohibits parking on the pavement, paved shoulder, vehicle travel lanes and bike lanes located within public right-of-ways along river area roadways in order to prevent vehicle encroachment on the roadway itself. If the City Code universally prohibited all parking in the public right-of-way (other than in designated parking spaces), this would indeed make it unlawful to park on the grass in the public right-of-way along and near the river, and resolve many of the complaints herein. However, the same ordinance would also prohibit the extensive on-street parking that currently occurs throughout most subdivisions within the City. In fact, many HOA's back-down from the City implementing localized parking restrictions because by law, parking restrictions in the public right-of-way cannot discriminate between immediate neighborhood residents, other residents and non-resident visitors. Local neighborhood residents would be subject to the same regulations as those for which the regulations were targeted against, and in most cases would be cited themselves.

Lastly, City staff can only implement the regulations that that are adopted in the City Code as approved by Mayor and Council. Staff has attempted to address traffic safety concerns while at the same time not criminalizing access to the City's natural areas beyond our authority, which is already under tremendous scrutiny as a result of the COVID-19 situation. Categorically outlawing parking in the right-of-way in this part of the City would require legislative action by Mayor and Council, not by staff -- we have no authority to implement that type of regulation. In the meantime, the Roswell Police and Roswell Park Police are citing violators as they come across them.

-Scott Brunner
City Traffic Engineer

Thank you Scott for the details. However I cannot see how driving over a clearly defined street curb to park in the grass along a woodline is applicable to the code you have provided. If there was an emergency or any type of lane beyond the curb the code would apply. It does not seem to me a grassy, forest line is a "right of way". Given this code a car parked on the gravel path prior to the townhome community would also be acceptable parking yet I watched a Roswell policeman ticket that car so this code seems to be selectively being applied. Given that I don't think it is unreasonable for the community to request this parking off curb in the grass be prohibited. At least when directly in front of residental homes. This is not the same as typical HoA street parking. This has become a daily parking lot and that is not what it is zoned for. Thank you for your consideration.

These are the no parking signs that used to be here until they were stolen. The sign pictured is about .25 mile further east on Riverside. This one and several others still stand on Riverside. This has been enforced for the 10 years that I have lived here and I’m sure longer!!! Until now! This change is recent. The new “Park wherever you want as long as it’s not on the road” signs are nowhere near any city or state park but about 20 feet from my front yard turning what was once a pristine neighborhood into party central for underage drinking....

This street is now a daily public parking lot. That is not within zoning. And now we have haphazard, bi directional parking.

I have called the police. There are at least 50 teenagers partying in the river and walking on the sidewalk while drinking.

Sorry you have to bear the brunt of this Trixie. If possible, please keep a good log and photos of these things so that when we finally "have our day in court" we're prepared. Apparently our public officials are too short sighted to see that this is quickly growing out of control and don't want to do what's right and prevent this activity.

Thank you all for the additional comments.

I have had some discussions with residents in the area, and wanted to let everyone know that the parking issue has been part of an ongoing discussion with City leadership as well as our emergency operations team that have had to address the requirements of the various Executive Orders which involve the original closings and now reopening of the parks and other public facilities. The closing of or park and recreational parking lots has ben a large contributor to the subject situation, and the City has been hopeful that with the reopening of these parking areas over the next week or so, the situation would start to self-improve, and less vehicles would be parked in the public ight-of-way. Having said that, it is evident that there may be some disregard and lack of respect for the public right-of-way, and some individuals are taking advantage of the City's ordinance that provides the ability to safely park in open right-of-way. The intention was to allow residents and visitors the ability to enjoy our park areas given the limitations on parking, but we certainly do not want it to become a circus or nuisance either. With additional parks' parking areas reopening over the next few days, we will be evaluating conditions next week, and if things do not improve we will have to work up the chain of command to determine next steps. Again, keep in mind that my section can only sign the regulations that we are authorized to implement under the City Code -- we do not have the authority to supersede an ordinance or take matters into our own hands. Resolving this issue is going to need to be worked higher up, but that is in progress.

Please have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Scott Brunner
City Traffic Engineer

I’ll be curious to know what the police do about the underage drinking and litter. While there were no cars parked there early this AM, I did see alcohol container trash on that side of the road. Again, if these kids are getting trashed (while trashing the area), someone is going to get hurt.

Scott, thank you for your response. I think we all understand the intent of city leaders, but this has clearly turned into a fiasco. My concern is the can of worms has been open. My hope is that the decision will he made to just put back up the no parking signs and call it a day. Until then, I highly suggest more police presence to keep this from getting any further out or hand. Not sure what if any influence you can have on that.

I don’t know why my content was rejected, merely asked what happened when the police were called, and commented about litter on the road from the drinkers, plus concerns about people being hurt if drinking by the river.

Thank you Scott. I too want people to enjoy Roswell but this a circus because the biggest users of the waterway on Riverside has always been the teenagers coming to drink and smoke weed. I have lived on this road for 10 years and in small groups I am ok with it but what we are seeing now is hazardous to bikers and a detriment to the community. Thank you again for escalating this issue.

Here is what we have today... The police are driving by and not ticketing these cars.

I can hear the river party chanting from inside my house.

There are at least 50 kids partying in the river. Social distancing does not apply to teenagers? The cops are willing to go into the river?

This nice young man told me that it didn't matter if I took pictures or called the police because they were not going to do anything. The sad thing is that he is right.

Children were seen gathering while they have fights with one another. You are being told to control the situation immediately or face termination.

The City of Roswell has received reports of large groups gathering at The Shoals in the Chattahoochee River on Riverside Road.

In addition to concerns about appropriate physical distancing, these have led to parking issues along the adjacent corridor. We wanted to let you know the City has received your reports and that leadership is working on ways to address the variety of concerns that have been shared with us.

As we work across departments and with the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the river portions of the affected area, we are looking for the best solutions to ensure residents’ and visitors’ health, safety, and welfare.

If you have any questions, please contact communityrelations@roswellgov.com.