Front Yards Are For Lawns, Not Cars, City Says
Queens and Brooklyn homeowners may soon be prohibited from converting front yards into parking pads if a set of regulations is approved. The loss of street parking from new curb cuts was cited as a reason, along with aesthetics.
It's not just the loss of street parking that's driving the new regulations. It's retaining the green space in the neighborhood as well. The new regulations will also specify the width of front yard plantings. However, it does seem to be "all about parking." In fact, the regulation will require more parking if a house is modified to create extra units.
"Ambiguous zoning regulations now allow residents in some neighborhoods to make curb cuts, which are created by breaking the concrete of a regular curb and repaving it to slope up to a private property’s front yard."
"These changes are 'key to fostering inviting, walkable blocks,' the city planning commissioner, Amanda M. Burden, said when she announced the proposed new rules on Monday (Nov. 16).
The new rules would tighten the criteria for approving certain curb cuts and new residential parking to consider the 'character of the existing streetscape' and whether the cuts would 'affect pedestrian movement.'"
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Great idea
This is a great idea. Parking on front lawns looks awful and usually tears up the lawn also.
Not to mention...
...that a curb-cut every 15 feet or so drastically increases the danger faced by pedestrians.
The article does seem to hint at "inconvenience" to pedestrians a few times, but in my opinion that's not even close to the correct word to use when it comes to describing the consequences of a potential confrontation between a walking hundred-something pound human being and 2 tons of steel traveling anywhere from 2 to 4 times their speed, coming at a blind angle up onto the sidewalk.
If these folks really feel they must park their cars a foot or three from their front door, they should move to a place designed for such purposes - the suburbs.
And town parking
And what about all the people who feel they have to park their car two feet from the front door of whatever store they are shopping in or at the gym? I joke that they would park on the sidewalk in front of the business if they could!