Parking Spaces

Residents of neighborhoods near Morgan State University, upset with students and staff monopolizing parking in their communities, took their frustration to the school itself Monday morning. Organizers of the daylong protest said that Morgan has not done enough to stop off-campus parking. And they said they need better enforcement on the streets that are protected by the residential parking permit program. "I'm tired of being a prisoner in my own home," said Jeanette Pindell.

As Election Day quickly approaches, there continues to be much confusion among Anne Arundel County residents about exactly what the proposed casino at Arundel Mills means for the area around the mall and for Anne Arundel County. Even after all this time, the question I am most asked is still: "Now, where will this casino be located?" As vice president/general manager of Arundel Mills, I believe that all Anne Arundel County residents need to know, straight form the source, why I believe Maryland Live!

An off-duty Baltimore police detective died Saturday night after he was assaulted in Southeast Baltimore, police said. Sources have identified the officer as Brian A. Stevenson, an 18-year department veteran. Stevenson, who police said was assigned to the Northeast District, was hit in the head with a rock or another hard object and may have been stabbed, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Police established a crime scene in the parking lot of the Mercy-Canton Family Care center in the 2800 block Hudson Street, near Streeper Street Saturday night.

Imagine hundreds of mourners streaming to a large, new funeral home only to find less than three dozen parking spaces. That scenario is possible under Howard zoning laws, and two County Council members say it is time for a change. Howard's zoning regulations require 10 spaces per visitation room, plus one space per employee, but like food stores, churches and retail outlets, funeral homes are getting larger. "Things have changed in the funeral home industry," said County Councilman Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican.

The problem : A handicapped permit holder blocks off additional spaces on a Central Park Heights street. The back story : There's a perennial Baltimore debate that resumes any time a significant amount of snow falls: Should drivers block parking spaces they have cleared on city streets with folding chairs or traffic cones when they leave so they can park there when they return? Regardless of where you stand in winter, Watchdog believes that the defense of space-saving has no standing when temperatures swing in the opposite direction.

The State Highway Administration reopened its long-closed South Mountain rest stops along Interstate 70 near the Frederick- Washington County line this week after an $18.3 million renovation project. The agency opened a section of the eastbound and westbound rest stops after expanding the parking area and updating restroom facilities. The stops, between Exits 35 and 42 in Frederick County, have been provided with walking trails, picnic areas, parking and restrooms that comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. According to the SHA, the reopened rest stops each have 76 parking spaces for passenger vehicles, 26 parking spaces for commercial trucks and six parking spaces for RVs and buses.

After encountering strong opposition to a plan to build an 80-foot-high parking garage next to Old St. Paul's Rectory in Baltimore, developer David Hillman is now proposing to bury most of the garage underground. Hillman and architect Peter Fillat are scheduled next week to present a new plan for a 12-level garage to Baltimore's Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel. The property at 18 W. Saratoga St., part of the Central Business District urban renewal area, once contained a house owned by university and hospital founder Johns Hopkins.

WASHINGTON - Metro says the back-to-back snowstorms this month have cost the transit agency an estimated $18 million. The storms forced Metro to limit rail service only to underground stations, which officials say caused a "tremendous loss of ridership." In addition, Metro is losing money because its parking spaces are still covered in snow and ice. Of the estimated costs, $8 million are for snow removal, while $9.7 million accounts for lost revenue. Metro's Chief Financial Officer Carol Kissal says the system is working with Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia to submit costs to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for possible reimbursement.

It's time to move the chairs. Nine days after back-to-back snowstorms buried Baltimore, neighborhoods still resemble a yard sale after a hurricane -- littered with not only chairs but with bar stools and ottomans, kitty litter containers and potted plants, Formica tables and ironing boards -- put down by weary residents claiming title to the public parking spaces they had spent hours shoveling. But now, the new mayor's magnanimous gesture of not enforcing the illegal claiming of public space is over.