Parking

During the August meeting of Oriental's Town Board, a resident submitted photographs to the Board, complaining that they showed instances of people parking their cars partially on the pavement. She cited a rule that "all four wheels must be on the grass."

I had heard the rule before, but wondered where it came from. So I asked Town Hall. The source, I was told is:
NCGS 20-161 and
General Ordinance of the Town of Oriental, Chapter F, Section 1-7.

So I looked them up. The provision of North Carolina General Statutes, it turns out, applies only "outside municipal corporate limits."

Then I looked up our ordinance. It says: "no vehicle shall stop in any street except for the purpose of parking...."

OK, Then what is a street? The ordinance defines it as "The entire width between property lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of right, for purposes of vehicular traffic."

Bottom line: there is no "four wheels on the grass" rule. Not in our town.

The rest of the story: a couple of weeks ago, at the insistence of two town commissioners (never mind that they have no operational authority in town affairs) and the Interim Town Manager, three perfectly healthy wax myrtles gave their lives in honor of this nonexistent rule.

Postscript: I wasn't all that fond of the wax myrtles. It is also clear that they were in the town's right of way. The town has assigned significant authority over trees in public areas, including rights of way (streets) to the tree board. Had the tree board met and deliberated about the trees and recommended their removal, I would have no problem. Let the tree board do its job!