‘No other recourse’: Midlands residents petition to repeal controversial parking law

Irmo residents are venting their frustrations about the town’s new parking ordinance, and their target is the town council.

Thursday night, a small group of residents gathered in the parking lot at Dutch Fork Tennis Center to add their names to a petition opposing the ordinance.

For weeks since the ordinance took effect, the town’s unofficial community Facebook page has been lit up with protest comments and bitter back-and-forth conversations.

Last week, poster Brandi Clarkson announced she would be starting a formal petition against the law. Fifteen people signed on the first night.

The organizers must get 1,500 signatures (15 percent of registered voters in the municipality at the last election) on their petition in order for it to be valid. They hope to meet that goal by Saturday, Sept. 15, before the next Irmo Town Council meeting.

Clarkson and Gloria Jordan, another Irmo resident who opposes the ordinance, wrote an open letter, which first appeared in the New Irmo News. In the letter, they write about being “ignored” by council members and having “no other recourse” than to file a formal petition.

“This ordinance has violated our right to peaceful enjoyment of our property,” the letter says.

The core of the letter’s argument relates to the people’s right to use their property as they wish. The ordinance, which was passed in January but did not take effect until Aug. 1, dictates where Irmo residents and visitors can park their vehicles.

Irmo Mayor Hardy King said the new rule is intended to make Irmo more attractive to potential homeowners and businesses.

The new law prohibits parking anywhere in the front yard of a home except in the driveway or a parking area approved by the town. While visitors are exempt from the law, there’s no formal process for identifying which cars belong to visitors and which to residents.

More than 100 warnings were issued from Aug. 1 to 20. All of the notices were issued in or near the Friarsgate neighborhood.

Irmo resident Michelle Carpenter has lived in New Friarsgate since 2011. She said her driveway is large enough to fit six vehicles, but she is upset about how the law infringes on the rights of her neighbors, friends and her elderly parents, who live in neighboring Old Friarsgate.

She signed the petition and said she plans to go door to door in her neighborhood asking for signatures.

Many are arguing the parking ordinance is imposing rules like those in a neighborhood ruled by a homeowner’s association, and that is not what they want.

Neighborhoods without homeowners associations “are often sought out to allow more freedom in what a resident can do with their property,” the letter says.

King said, in general, residents who wish to be excused from complying with certain ordinances must formally request a variance. However, variances are issued for reasons having to do with the property, not with individuals — meaning personal restrictions, such as physical handicaps, are not taken into account.

Once the petition is submitted to town council and is verified by an election commission, the council will decide whether to repeal the ordinance, keep it or have residents vote on it in a referendum.

“The petition itself does not repeal it. The petition itself says, ‘OK, council, we want you to repeal this,’” said Chris Whitmire of the South Carolina Election Commission.

Petition signing will take place every day until Sept. 15 at the Dutch Fork Tennis Center at 1141 Friarsgate Blvd. More information can be found on the petition Facebook page.

This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 5:07 PM.