Jennifer Krou likened the parked cars on Lox Street to a crowded movie theater.
However, instead of stepped-on toes and knocked-over popcorn, the board president of the Post Oak One Homeowners Association said she was in fear of cars hitting children and poor emergency access to Tobias Elementary School as well as the surrounding neighborhoods.
“If the emergency personnel cannot turn into our streets safely because it is not wide enough, especially when the recommended safe access for emergency vehicles is 20 feet ... where are they going to drive?" Krou said during Tuesday's Kyle City Council meeting. "How are they going to save that person when time is of the essence? From an accessibility standpoint and a safety standpoint, street parking just doesn’t make sense on this street.”
As a solution, City Council drafted an ordinance on Tuesday that would prohibit parking and standing on Lox to avoid congested traffic flow as well as safety hazards that would affect both pedestrians and drivers traversing the street.
The area in question sits near Tobias Elementary school and the Post Oak One subdivision. Citizens, such as Joanne Shelton, said they are concerned for the children attempting to cross the streets before and after school.
“We can all try to avoid those hazards, but kids aren’t thinking that way. They are anxious to get to school. They are anxious to go home from school, and they are doing things in a hurry,” Shelton said during the citizen comment portion. “The cars are moving fast, and we’ve had this problem since 2012. We can’t control the kids, but we can control the ordinances and the solutions we put in place to protect them.”
City Manager Scott Sellers said that the internal committee that reviews all citizens request for signage, especially those that would impact the Texas Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, agreed that the no-parking signs would benefit the community.
“In this case, we felt that this would protect and preserve the safety of the children that attend Tobias and the people who live in the neighborhood,” Sellers said during the City Council meeting.
City Council passed the ordinance on its first reading with a 7-0 vote.
Both council members David Wilson and Daphne Tenorio commended the citizens for bringing the issue to the attention of City Council.
"It's been something that’s needed to be done for quite some time, and I’m glad to see it, actually, finally being addressed because those children they don't understand," Tenorio said. “I’m glad to see us protecting those children as they walk to school."