It
’s Saturday morning and the Red Phone has been ringing off the
hook – keep the calls coming! If you’ve recently placed a call or
e-mail to the Crimson Crusader and haven’t heard a response, hang
in there. The Red Phone has heard you. Call the Red Phone at
779-4106 ext. 206 or e-mail redphone
@morganhilltimes.com.
It’s Saturday morning and the Red Phone has been ringing off the hook – keep the calls coming! If you’ve recently placed a call or e-mail to the Crimson Crusader and haven’t heard a response, hang in there. The Red Phone has heard you. Call the Red Phone at 779-4106 ext. 206 or e-mail re******@mo*************.com.
Parking problems abound
“I was wondering when the police department is going to take care of all the parallel parking that takes place during the school year on La Escuela Court in Morgan Hill. The parents block the court – they sometimes parallel park. They even block driveways. This has been going on for a number of years. We had discussed this with the Morgan Hill police and it seems that because of the school, no one wants to do anything about it. Sometimes they double park and leave the car and go pick up their children.
The other thing is with Specialized bicycle group at the turn onto La Cross. There is a group there – they do not stop at the stop sign and they will cross over the street on La Cross Drive from the right to left-hand side sometimes. This is a problem. Also, they ride out of the white line for bicycles. This had been going on for a long time and nothing had been done. Specialized Bikes says that they follow the traffic laws and they do not.
Thank you very much and keep up the good work.”
The Crimson Crusader called up the Morgan Hill Police Department to answer your questions and spoke with Joe Sampson. If parents are blocking driveways and double parking while picking up their children they can be cited for a parking violation. Punishments vary depending on the violation, and range from receiving a citation and paying a fee to having the vehicle impounded. Fees generally range as low as $35 to as high as $275, such as with a handicapped parking violation. For example, parking in front of a driveway costs $32 with the first citation and increases if the violator has a prior record of that offense.
Sampson said officers would absolutely be willing to help residents with parking problems. In fact, he informed Red Phone that MHPD just finished their three-week campaign of “Operation Safe Schools,” part of which included traffic enforcement. The campaign was temporary due to available staff, but Sampson said officers would be “happy to help” if residents called in. So callers, if you have any problems with parkers, call the Morgan Hill Police Dispatch at 779-2101. They’ll send an officer on the scene so they can talk to you, make a determination on what to do, and issue a warning or citation. Dispatch is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
As for the bicyclist, the MHPD has told the Red Phone in the past that an officer must witness the riders breaking the law to write them a citation. Bicycles are subject to the same the laws as motor vehicles and must abide by all traffic signs.
Park-a-potty
“My question is why in Paradise Park are there no bathrooms, no toilets? On Saturday morning, there’s a whole lot of kids playing soccer and there’s all their parents watching the game; there’s walkers in the trail; there’s people in the park – and there’s no toilets in the park. There have never been toilets in that park, except about six months ago there was a ‘Port-a-potty’ put in for a few months and that was really, really great and now it’s gone. I just don’t understand why that park, Paradise Park, has no toilets. I really wish you would get us some toilets for that park – in which I walk on the trail every day.”
Red Phone dialed the city’s park department to see if there was any way residents could relieve themselves at Paradise Park.
Maintenance supervisor Anne Baele informed Red Phone that Paradise Park is a “neighborhood park”, according to the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. A “neighborhood park” is designed to serve the immediate park area. These types of parks include a small parking lot and typically no restrooms. “Community parks”, on the other hand, are designed to meet the needs of the community at large and typically include a large sports field, picnic areas, off-street parking, lights and restrooms. “Community parks” are designed to have a higher intensity of use, whereas neighborhood parks are not.
“Neighborhood parks,” such as Paradise, usually don’t become “Community parks” either, because their purpose is to cater to nearby neighbors, who usually don’t want the additional people attracted to a large “Community park.” For example, Nordstrom Park considered putting restrooms in, but neighbors didn’t want them because they live close to home and could use their own and didn’t want the large crowd.
However, not all readers will have to hold it. If visitors rent the park for an event, Baele informed Red Phone that they could also rent “Port-a-potties,” like the soccer group did for a while, and use them at the park.
If you have any suggestions or comments, Baele encourages our readers to call her at 776-7333 ext. 243; Mori Struve, Deputy Director of Public Works, at ext. 247; the Community and Cultural Center at 782-0008; or they can also attend one of the Parks and Recreation Commission meetings every third Tuesday of the month at 7pm in the council chambers.
