Saturday, August 7, 2010

Dunwoody High School Parking and Transportation Plan

Dunwoody HS Parking Plan
DHS Morning Drop-off
DHS Afternoon Pick-up

Freshman orientation at Dunwoody HS on Sunday 8/8 at 2:00pm
Canceled - due to final preparations for school opening on Monday.

38 comments:

Joe Hirsch said...

Hi John: I see the new road signs put up and the info on the map designating permit only parking on Vermack and Vanderlyn. Do you know if the county actually wrote something that authorizes this? I suspect many students will be trying to park on public streets - that are now apparantly forbidden.

John Heneghan said...

Joe, I know the city and school have met but this item has been worked by others and my information is limited. Sorry.

Paula Caldarella said...

The parking spaces on Vanderlyn are for Construction workers only. The parking spaces on Vermack are for teachers and administrators. They have their own parking passes that will be displayed openly on their rear-view mirrors. If someone is parked illegally, the school security will address this.

For students parking on public streets illegally, call the Dunwoody Police Dept.

Joe Hirsch said...

Thanks DunwoodyMom- but I was wondering how it became that these public streets are now reserved for construction workers and teachers... is it really "illegal" for a student to park on Vanderlyn and Vermack? I see the street signs, but what exact governmental authority rewrote the codes? (Can the Dunwoody police really issue tickets for parking on those streets? - or is that just being said to scare the kids.)

Unknown said...

I''m a Dunwoody student and I was not one of the few who recieved a parking permit. So I thought I would park in one of the surrounding neighborhoods. On the first day of school I parked in the neighborhood across the street from Village Mill. Upon getting to my car after school let out I found a nasty note left on my windshield stating that if I parked there again they were going to call the police, report it as a stolen vehicle and have me towed. I understand that people living around the school are frustrated by the construction but so are the students, especially the seniors who, the majority of are unable to park on campus. After recieving that note I called the Dunwoody police and asked if the residents could in fact do this and I was informed that they could. Even though there were no no parking signs it was still a residental area. I think that is ridiculous but I decided it would just be easier to park somewhere else. I parked in a neighborhood by vanderlyn this morning and did not recieve any notes or warnings. So if you are one of the residents living around the school and you see a student park in your neighborhood I just ask that you please please think about this: what would you do if you were in our situation? It's our last year at Dunwoody and we have waited for 3 years to be where we are now. So for those who decide to allow the students to park in their neighborhoods I applaud and thank you.

Bob Lundsten said...

I do not think it is illegal to park on a public street if there are no NO PARKING signs.

And I am not aware of any action by the City Council to pass any parking restrictions in the surrounding neighborhoods
Claire it is unfortunate that you as a senior in HS have to endure such pettiness.
Who did you speak to at the Dunwoody PD?
You and tyour friends should call the City manager and every councilmen and flood their offices with emails and letters
Bob

Paula Caldarella said...

I noticed there were are no parking between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. posted all around the streets of the neighborhoods on the Vanderlyn "side" of Dunwoody HS. Are these sign new or existing?

Unknown said...

When I called in the person I spoke to was a woman, I'm not sure what her name was. The woman's reasoning for the police being able to take action was because that it was a residental road but that still doesn't make much sense to me. I was under the impression that unless the road was actually private or gated it was a public street and parking is allowed unless otherwise noted. Some of the no parking signs are old and some are new. It looks like the ones in Village Mill are new and that there are both new and old signs in some of the neighborhoods surrounding Vadnderlyn/Dunwoody. The signs on Vermack are old as well. When I was parking this morning I noticed that there were cars parked in the no parking zones. They were not there when I went to my car after school so it's possible they were towed but it seemed that no one was enforcing the no parking signs in that neighborhood.

JerryGarcia said...

I would suggest Claire park in the spots all along Vanderlyn that say they are for construction parking only. I think those signs are bogus and can't be enforced.

Glory_Jackson said...

What kind of creep leaves nasty notes on a high school girl's car windshield?! How is a student parking on the street hurting anyone? Girl, next time, try to see who is doing this and strongly suggest they stop stalking you.

While your high school is under construction you have a right to park on the streets and attend high school without being harassed!

Anonymous said...

The residential streets immediately next to Dunwoody HS have had NO PARKING (8am-3pm) signs for a long time. But from reading the post, it appears that Claire parked outside the NO PARKING perimeter and is perfectly legal on a city street except for closness to a hydrant or intersection or blocking a driveway, etc. Village Mill is one of the neighborhoods where the NO PARKING signs cease. I had wondered if some of the residents would take a possessive attitude about the city street that fronts their house. Now we know that at least one resident does. We can probably expect such neighborhoods to petition Council members for an expanded NO PARKING area.

Relatedly, I have always wondered if the lawn service crews honor those NO PARKING areas, if they are ticketed, or if the ticketing in a NO PARKING area is selective.

Lindsay said...

It seems to me that the person who left the note for Claire would obviously be filing a false police report if she claimed that the car was stolen. If so, why would the person who answered the phone at the Dunwoody police station give Claire such bad advice? If there are not any signs that clearly state that no parking is allowed, no homeowner has a right to lie to the police to get a car towed just because they don't like it.

Bad neighbor.

Unknown said...

The letter said they would report the car as abandoned, not stolen. Sorry for the mistake. But still I don't consider me leaving my car for 7 hours to go school as abandonment. The letter was signed from the neighborhoods homeowner association. So I'm not sure if it was just the one person or all of them. One thing that was very obvious to me when I moved to Dunwoody and that I have seen over the years was a sense of community so I figured that since it was a fairly tight knit community the surrounding neighborhoods would be understanding of students parking on the streets. Guess I was wrong. Also I would not be suprised if many of the surrounding neighborhoods pushed for more no parking signs judging from the attitude I saw.

Paula Caldarella said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chip said...

Since DHS is in 2nd District, why not contact Adrian Bonser and Danny Ross and get them working on this?

I have to agree that parking on a residential street in accordance with laws regarding fire hydrant and driveway access is perfectly legal, regardless of what a local resident may feel. No homeowners' association can draft or enforce laws on the public streets within their subdivision, only on private streets and through restrictive covenants with the property owners.

And, Dunwoody police would not accept that the car was "abandoned" if the license plate and registration were "current" and the car appeared to be in operating condition. They would certainly contact the owner of record before taking any action.

Finally, I can't resist making the same point that I've often made to the GPC-haters about students and parking. Dunwoody should be thrilled that GPC has an assertive program to park all it's cars on its property, freeing up the residential areas from overflow parking and all these hassles.

For those people who resent the "out of towners" that attend GPC, are they going to say the same thing about the "in towners" who attend DHS??

But, as Joe Hirsch will tell you, don't really expect our City Council to get involved with anything to do with traffic or parking ordinance enforcement, as this seems to be completely "off their radar."

Chip

Unknown said...

So after the note I recieved on Monday I had been parking in a neighborhood between Vanderlyn and Dunwoody. I had been parking without problems or so I thought until on my way to my car a woman stopped me and informed me that if any cars were parked in the neighborhood on Monday they would be calling the police. I'm going to try to find a different spot to park in I guess but this is just ridiculous.

Paula Caldarella said...

If you are parked legally, i.e., no posted signs indicating you cannot park, these residents can call the police all they want - you are not breaking any laws. Don't let these people intimidate you.

Anonymous said...

Claire - I am so sorry you are finding that these adults are not acting like responsible adults. As Dunwoody Mom says, do not be intimidated. Just be certain there are no NO PARKING signs in the area you are parking, not blocking a drive or hydrant, etc.

Unknown said...

I guess the thing that worries me is that when I called the Dunwoody pd concerning this issue I was told these people were in fact allowed to take action.:-(

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I am also a Dunwoody student and also got a note on my window regarding calling the police if I was to park there again.I also made sure notto park illegally by blocking any hydrants, driveways, or even mailboxes, yet the residents were not pleased. With the help of my family, my classmates, and hopefully oth Dunwoody residents, I hope to find the City of Dunwoody laws that state that these residential streets are off-limits. I have started a group on Facebook called STIR: Students Terrorized by Irrational Residents, please look and join and help in the cause to make this year a great year. Thank you.

Unknown said...

Jabsongs did you speak to the police as well? What neighborhood were you parked in?

Paula Caldarella said...

I certainly hope our police department is not giving out false information.

Unknown said...

I would hope not but just to make sure I would like to find where these laws are written out.

Paula Caldarella said...

I've got to run out, but here is the link to the municipal code of Dunwoody. Take a look at the parking section:

http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=14784&stateId=10&stateName=Georgia

John Heneghan said...

Listen to Dunwoody Mom, she is correct.

As written in 30-102; No signs, no enforcement.

Sec. 30-102. - Signs required for enforcement.

When by this chapter or any other ordinance or order of the public works department any parking time limit is imposed or parking is prohibited on designated streets, it shall be the duty of the public works department to erect appropriate signs giving notice thereof, and no regulations shall be effective unless these signs are erected and in place at the time of any alleged offense. At least one sign shall be erected in each block on each side of the street where parking is either prohibited or restricted.

Also look at...

Sec. 30-2. - Temporary traffic regulations.

Sec. 30-103. - Emergency parking restrictions.

Sec. 30-110. - Parking adjacent to schools.

Joe Hirsch said...

City has asked DeKalb Schools to REMOVE the signs on Vanderlyn Drive that say "Doster Contractor Parking Only"! (per Michael Smith). This means: DUNWOODY HIGH KIDS ARE ALLOWED TO PARK ON VANDERLYN. Duh. That was a no-brainer. Now, I wonder how long it will take the city to do the same on Vermack? Nowhere in Dunwoody's code does it say spots on a public road may be reserved for anyone. Claire and "Jabsongs" - some new spaces just opened up for you!

Anonymous said...

My bet is that the action was initiated by the Vanderlyn school parents who have normally parked along Vanderlyn Drive for drop-off and pickup (as well as inconsiderately in the Dunwoody HS Vanderlyn Drive lot). Back when Dunwoody HS assigned specific parking spaces, the Vanderlyn parents would park in Dunwoody HS spaces, as they "would only be a minute," but would put a student or teacher with that assigned space with nowhere to park.

Anonymous said...

I will confess I thought the city put up the Doster and teacher signs. If the construction company or school system put up the signs and the city knew about it, why did it take so long to intervene? What is next...a church puts up reserved signs along the street next to their building?

Paula Caldarella said...

The intentions were good. They were trying to make sure that all the construction parking and workers were "confined" to the Vanderlyn side of the school as to keep out of the way of the everyday workings of the school.

Joe Hirsch said...

To DunwoodyMom and others: The road to Dunwoody High was paved with good intentions? Ironic. Actually, this is a great example of citizens (and the PTA, students, etc.) falsely and wrongly believing what is told to them. Just because a sign is put up doesn't make it proper or legal. For all those who trusted their city and school - shame on you. A civics lesson for all.

Anonymous said...

So Civics Joe, how do you propose we tell the difference between a city-erected sign and one erected by others? It was never said, as far as I know, that it was the school system (and not the city) that put up the parking signs. At least one City Council member was at the Dunwoody HS community meeting where the parking plan was presented, but the validity of the parking signs were not disputed by the attending Council member. Had the city erected the signs, it would be legal. Many of us were under the impression the city cooperated with the schools on this.

Joe Hirsch said...

Anon - why do you say it would be legal if the city erected the signs? I can't find the code that says the city has the authority to grant certain people parking privileges over others on public streets. But yes, I'm told by the city that they cooperated with the signs for the teachers on Vermack.

Anonymous said...

Joe, I'll grant you the Dunwoody Code isn't clear.

In the area of parking, the Code seems to speak primarily to prohibiting parking or just prohibiting parking during certain hours or to restricting parking to certain permit uses such as bus stops, taxi stands, loading zones, etc.

The first sentence of Sec. 30-102 states parking rules are issued "by order of the public works department."

The last sentence of Sec. 30-102 states "At least one sign shall be erected in each block on each side of the street where parking is either prohibited or restricted."

While not clearly written, one deduces from these first and last sentences that the public works department is authorized to issue parking rules and is authorized to restrict parking (in addition to prohibiting parking).

It would be interesting to see how our municipal court judge would rule on a challenge if one were ticketed for parking in the teacher permit spaces on Vermack or in the Doster spaces on Vanderlyn and took their case to court.

John Heneghan said...

I am happy to announce that I have nominated Dunwoody High School Senior, Ms. Nicole Anderson to serve on the City of Dunwoody, Comprehensive Transportation Plan Advisory Committee. I believe that Nicole's passion and willingness to engage the process will bring a fresh perspective to long range transportation planning and that she will represent and be the voice of the next generation.

To all Dunwoody High School students, Nicole is now your voice at the table so please join her by engaging in the process by giving suggestions, attending public meetings and completing surveys when presented.

Paula Caldarella said...

Good choice!!!

Joe Seconder said...

John, I am so pleased that you chose a gen Y for the Advisory Committee! Great way to engage our future leaders.

Pattie Baker said...

John: This is just terrific news. Cities nationwide have or are forming Youth Commissions (see here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=city+youth+commissions&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS280US280&ie=UTF-8)
and it is my hope that this is a first step toward having an active and respected Youth Commission in our city as well.

I continue to be impressed with how you listen to ALL citizens and then find ways to help, without any agenda of your own.