Parking on the 4500 block of Sunburst Street will now be restricted during school hours Monday through Friday after Bellaire officials unanimously authorized a traffic-related ordinance in the city’s code Oct. 19.
What residents should know
Travis Tanner, Bellaire’s director of development services, gave a brief overview of the ordinance at the Oct. 19 City Council meeting.
He explained that multiple residents whose streets neighbor Pin Oak Middle School—which is located at the northern city limit at Avenue B and Glenmont Street—reported instances of overflow traffic and parking over the last six months. These instances stem directly from longstanding issues associated with the setup of the school’s student pickup line.
Despite city staff’s attempt to communicate with the school and to monitor the area for traffic violations, parents of students were still routinely identified using the streets of Sunburst and Mayfair as both waiting areas and access points for after-school pickup.
This led 75% of residents on the 4500 block of Sunburst Street to sign a petition to impose restricted, permit-only parking on the affected route, an effort spearheaded by Jaime Perkins, a Bellaire resident of more than 20 years.
The now-approved ordinance stipulates that parking will be restricted only to residents with permits between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on school days, utilizing language similar to regulations already in place for other entities such as Bellaire High School, per the agenda.
Tanner said that city staff intends to coordinate the installation of signs down the block detailing this change now that council authorization has been granted.
Put in perspective
During discussion, Perkins told City Council that she had been ‘fighting’ to resolve the issue of traffic overflow on her street ever since she became a resident over two decades ago.
Up until Oct. 19, she said the problem had escalated into a fire hazard due to the lack of enforcement from Pin Oak and the "brazen nature of at-fault drivers," negatively impacting the daily lives of block residents.
“The parents park up to the stop signs on both sides of the street. The recycling truck, trash truck, they can’t come up and down straight. UPS can’t come up and down the street,” Perkins said. “It is an absolute nightmare. The parents are very emboldened. They will block our driveways.”
Perkins added that she, along with other residents, tried calling the Bellaire Police Department’s non-emergency line numerous times for assistance with this matter prior to forming a petition. However, inadequate staffing sometimes made it difficult for the department to dispatch an officer, she said.
What Bellaire City Council is saying
Council member Ross Gordon felt strongly that the ordinance will help alleviate the situation by enforcing more tangible penalties on drivers who violate the rules, as opposed to verbal warnings that may have been given out in the past.
“The key thing now is that, when [city staff] get the restriction up there, [the BPD] can actually issue a ticket, whereas before they would just come by and say, ‘Please move along.’ A ticket, which is, you know, part of the deterrence,” Gordon said.
At one point in the discussion, Mayor Gus Pappas wondered if coordination on the BPD’s part would further support mitigation of traffic and parking issues in the residential areas surrounding Pin Oak during peak times of activity, such as having at least one officer positioned nearby.
“Some sort of dedicated person to just be at certain spots during certain timeframes for the sole purpose of making sure that some of those streets are being dealt with. I mean, if they start handing citations out… [drivers] will get mad, but then they’re going to start paying attention," Pappas said.
Tanner said that city staff plans on reaching out to Pin Oak officials to inform them of the newly adopted restrictions, so they may then be able to relay the information to parents via communications.
