A roadblock for proposed solution to Westwood parking problem

Parking complaints on 48th Street have been tough to resolve for Westwood, but Friday morning only a handful of cars were parked along the north side near Rainbow. When cars park on both sides of the narrow street, it creates concerns for emergency vehicles.

Valentine’s Day found the Westwood City Council tussling with a thorny parking question that has played out for several months.

In the end, the council sent the question back to committee after a prepared ordinance failed to pass for lack of a motion. The problem is along 48th Street west of Rainbow, where employees of a business in the Colonial office building at the southwest corner of Rainbow and 48th Street have been parking along the residential street. Parking is currently allowed on both sides of 48th Street.

The building has enough off-street parking for its size, but one business tenant has more employees than spaces allotted to it. The employee parking on 48th Street has drawn complaints from residents, though none showed up at the council meeting Thursday.

Mayor John Yé said he and members of the public safety committee have met with the business owner and residents over the past several months to resolve the issue, including finding alternative parking for the business. Those attempts have hit an impasse.

Councilor Paul Day, who chairs public safety, laid out several options, including limiting parking to one side of the street. The prepared ordinance that failed would have banned parking on both sides of 48th Street to Booth. The mayor and councilors raised the point that such a ban may just move the employees farther down the street.

In the end, the issue was sent back to public safety to vet another solution.

The Colonial Building has been at the center of the parking discussion about 48th Street in Westwood.