Woodstock PD's radar speed trailer

Woodstock PD still has its radar speed trailer, and it still works. Today it was on northbound Clay Street near Clay Academy (formerly known as Clay Elementary School).

When Clay was an elementary school, you could always find students on the sidewalks before and after school. The 20MPH school speed limit made sense then, for the safety of the children. The school zone by Clay is a 20MPH zone, but the speed limit is only in effect "when children are present" and then only between the hours of 7:00AM and 4:00PM on school days.

When children are not present, the speed limit on Clay Street is 30MPH, so the first thing that got my attention at mid-day when I approached the trailer was the 20MPH regulatory speed limit sign mounted on the trailer. The speed limit at the trailer, when no children are present, is 30MPH, yet most drivers slowed to 20MPH.

The 27MPH speed displayed on the trailer is for a car approaching the school zone but not yet in it. The car, which I could see behind me, had not yet reached the zone.

Legally, the 20MPH speed limit sign on the speed trailer had no effect. A speed limit sign posted without action and approval of the City Council is meaningless. It would have been better to have the added message about the school zone, but all that wording might topple the trailer.

The other problem was that the speed trailer was parked out of the street on the "parkway", the grass median between the street and the sidewalk. Usually the trailer is parked on the street, as it was recently in the 500 block of North Madison Street, and often it is protected by traffic cones.

The proper place for the speed trailer on the street. Vehicles have been ticketed for being parked on the parkway (except for the vehicle in the 900 block of Clay all day today), and no less should be required or expected of City-owned vehicles or equipment. I'm sure it was just a minor oversight and decision to place it out of the street, when there would be less chance of its being run over by a distracted driver. But it belongs in the street, just as does any vehicle.

If you would like the speed trailer to be located in your neighborhood, send an e-mail to speedtrailer@woodstockil.gov Provide the police department with the location and a brief description of the extent of the speeding problem or reason you'd like it there.

Parkway Piles

How can you tell when it is the first day of the month in Woodstock?

Check for household goods, furniture, trash piled on the parkway in front of a rental property. This one, in the 500 block of Clay Street, began accumulating on Saturday. Of course, Community Development was closed.

The City of Woodstock should compile a list of every landlord in town and send each a letter with specific instructions about the use of the parkway for property of renters they are evicting. Give them 24 hours to remove the mess, then send a City dumptruck for it and bill the landlord.

The problem is probably compounded by State laws pertaining to evictions and any safeguards of property of the unlucky person who got evicted. Maybe landlords should be required to move a tenant's property into secure storage for 30 days. If so, they are sitting on plenty of money (at least a deposit of one month's rent) to pay for it.

Maybe they'll need to increase the security deposit to cover the possibility of eviction-related moving and storage expense. At 8:00AM on Tuesday Woodstock's Code Enforcement Officer will know of this pile. The clock is ticking...

Paved Parkway - Bad Precedent?

The Woodstock City Council has started down a slippery slope by approving a request from a homeowner to pave the parking area in front of his house that is in the City’s right-of-way. Often referred to as “parkway” this is the section of ground between the street and a sidewalk. The grass thereon is maintained by the homeowner and creates a buffer between the sidewalk and street.

As we all know, and as some are learning after visits from the City’s Code Enforcement Officer, it is illegal to park a vehicle in the parkway. Although it appears to be the homeowner’s private property, it is – sort of. It is subject to the City’s right-of-way, or easement, on the private land of the homeowner. This is why he must cut the grass there but cannot park a vehicle there.

This changed recently for the property at 421 Stewart Street, when the City Council on May 1, 2007, approved an amendment to the City Code at Title 5, Chapter 3, Section 13.E.3.(5)(A), (E) and (G).

The property owner at 421 Stewart Street has paved (with asphalt) the parkway in front of his house, so that he can park two light trucks there. When I drove by this morning, the two trucks were there. No vehicle was parked in the driveway, and the garage door was closed, so I could not see whether there was a vehicle in the garage. Certainly, at least one of the trucks could be parked in the regular driveway, and maybe the other could be parked at the person’s business.

This is a dangerous precedent in Woodstock. Will every property owner who wants almost-street parking overnight now approach the City Council and say, “Well, you let him do it on Stewart Street”?

The new ordinance allows the owner, until June 1, 2009, to park two light trucks there overnight and not to be subject to the 30-minute parking restriction between 2:00-6:00AM. So, what will happen on June 1, 2009? You can bet that the property owner will be back at the City Council early in 2009 to request an extension or a permanent order.

What will happen if the City Council refuses? Nothing is the special ordinance for this property owner requires him to tear up the asphalt and put in grass again. How did they slip up on this one? That would have been an easy condition to impose, and now it’s too late. The neighbors are stuck with the patch of asphalt where there used to be grass.