What promised to be a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning in our quiet neighborhood near the Medical Center in San Antonio, did not turn out as expected for many residents of this normally peaceful part of the city.
Protestors of a local clinic clogged our neighborhood streets. By parking on both sides of the street they blocked access to both residents and emergency vehicles. Access on Dorothy Louise, Betty Lou and East Beverly Mae was completely blocked. One resident had to turn around because her car would not fit between the parked cars.
The cars started arriving at 7:00 am and one resident counted 102 cars at 11:05 and 117 cars at 11:40. Cars lined Betty Lou all the from West Beverly Mae, past Dorothy Louise and about half way down the hill toward East Beverly May. Cars lined up both sides of East Beverly Mae past Dorothy Louise and stretched almost all the way to the curve where EBM meets WBM. Even then, more cars were pushing their way through the already clogged streets and parking deeper and deeper into the neighborhood.
More than one resident and her family had to spend their Saturday morning on their front lawn to keep people from parking on their grass. For her and her family, this was not how they planned to spend their Saturday. She felt it was important to keep her property and driveway clear because there are many elderly people who live in the neighborhood, including her mom. If there was an emergency, there would be no way that a fire truck or an ambulance would be able to get past all the parked cars and reach the people in need. Fortunately for everyone, there was no such emergency during the protest.
Another resident had to put orange cones out to keep protesters from parking on and tearing up her front yard landscaping.
One resident had already reported that previous day’s protesters had parked on and broken his water service costing him hundreds of dollars in repairs to water and sprinkler piping.
During events such as this it may help to remember that this is the price we pay for living in a country where we are all free to speak, agree with and even protest what we believe. It may be the price we pay, and as fellow citizen of this great country, I will always be the first to defend your right to protest. But, as a neighbor and resident of your city, I would also tell all protesters that it is requisite that find a way to protest without treading on the rights of others. For when you do that, you will loose any sympathy others, myself included, might have for your cause.
Some neighbors are organizing a petition to have the city adopt a “no parking” policy for the streets in the neighborhood. This policy, while it may help with future incidents, may also place restrictions on allow residents or their guests to park in front of houses.
If you have any input or comments regarding this issue, please contact a neighborhood board member or get involved by voicing your opinion at the next neighborhood meeting.
In any even, this may continue for some time, so click here to purchase your orange cones and remember when you do to use Amazon Smile and support your neighborhood’s building fund.