Central Presbyterian Church and the Davis Place subdivision have coexisted for over 75 years.  With neighborhood residents complaining about growing parking problems and the church proposing to demolish three houses to solve the problem, a conflict has arisen.

In Oct. 2010, the city of Clayton implemented a parking restriction in the Davis Place neighborhood for non-residents.  The restriction limits non-resident parking to one hour on weekdays and Saturdays on the neighborhood streets surrounding the church.  The church, which offers well-attended weekday ministries and a Wednesday night dinner, proposed to solve the parking problem by demolishing three houses and an apartment complex, all of which they own, to build a parking lot.

The church sees the parking lot as a long-term solution to the resident’s concerns.

“We are currently able to provide enough weekday parking for staff and our larger ministries only because we are able to use the old Schnuck’s lot on the corner of Hanley and Clayton,” Eric Schmidt, Executive Administrator for the church, said. “But, the Schnuck’s property is for sale and can’t be considered a permanent solution as can parking on our own site.”

The Trustees of Davis Place, who referred to their January 30 letter to the church for comment, stated that they hoped the church would explore alternative options before deciding to move into further planning.  The letter referenced the church’s current plans as in “direct opposition” to the church’s pledge to the neighborhood in 2006.

“Our goal is to preserve the residential character of Davis Place as we grow to accommodate our growing congregation,” Schmidt said in the 2006 letter on behalf of the church. “Any development on the Biltmore side will be designed specifically to preserve the residential character of the neighborhood.”

Schmidt explained that certain events have made it necessary for a change of plans.  According to Schmidt, “the economic downturn” has affected their ability to raise funds and delayed the previously envisioned building project.  In addition to a growing congregation, the parking restriction has brought the need for “weekday on-site parking” to support staff and ministries.

The church has an existing two-story, 181-space garage at their education facilities across Hanley Road. Longtime Davis Place resident Edward Rader conducted an individual parking lot study and questioned the church’s need for additional parking.

“I went to the church parking lot on a number of different occasions, including Sundays and weekdays,” Rader, who has lived in Davis Place since 1963, said. “I consistently found that there was a substantial number of available parking spaces.”

Though Rader’s data spanned 20 visits to the church lot, he was unable to retrieve sufficient data for Tuesdays and Fridays, when the larger ministries supposedly meet.  Nonetheless, he believes that his weekday traffic counts show that the church does not need additional parking.

Whether or not the parking lot is necessary is up for debate. However, everyone agrees that the current parking situation does not benefit either party.  Junior Emma Vierod, who lives four houses from the church and one house from the proposed parking lot, is concerned about the current parking situation.

“It’s frustrating to come home on Wednesday nights and Sundays and having to park on a completely different street because the spots near my house are all taken,” Vierod said.

Rader agreed, and thought that if anything, the one-hour time restriction was too lenient.

Sonia Beard, a Davis Place resident and member of the church, said she saw the parking problem as minor in comparison to “the good that’s being done in the church.”

“Our outreach is global,” Beard said. “The good that we do as a church body reaches way outside of my little family here. I think the people who complain about the cars being parked out there are being singularly focused and really don’t see the big picture.”

In addition, Beard said that the church is trying to solve the neighbor’s complaints.
She said that the church was trying to be a good neighbor and wanted to hear every idea that the neighbors offered.

While the residents complained about the lack of parking, all agreed the current situation was not safe for pedestrians or drivers.

Schmidt described the current situation: one parks at the “school garage of the Schnuck’s lot” and is then required to walk “down Hanley with fast moving traffic immediately next to the sidewalk” to reach the church.

“This especially relates to the elderly and moms with young children, who comprise a large portion of our weekday ministry attendees,” Schmidt said.

Cars often park on both sides of Davis Drive and other streets near the church.  This makes it very difficult for cars to pass in opposite directions. As a Davis Place resident, Beard was familiar with people cutting through the neighborhood and called the current situation “not safe.”

Rader offered a recent personal experience epitomizing Beard’s concerns.

“On that Sunday [Jan. 23] which followed snowy weather, I came down Davis and there was an SUV coming right at me,” Rader said. “In addition to the snow, cars were parked as they were on both sides.  There was not much room to go by.  Even when the weather’s good, it’s not safe.”

In addition, since moving to Davis Place, Rader said that his side view mirror has been knocked off twice.

It seems most agree that the current situation needs is not acceptable.  However the residents, for both monetary and aesthetic reasons, feel that a parking lot is not the solution.

The Trustees of Davis Place January 30 letter to the church addressed these concerns.  According to the trustees, destroying three homes in favor of a parking lot would threaten “the essential character of the neighborhood.”

Because of these aesthetic concerns, Rader said that the parking lot would lower the property value of the entire neighborhood. According to Rader, the value of houses near the church will drop, and in turn, it will affect the value of the homes in the entire subdivision.

Schmidt said that ultimately, upon completion of all three phases of the church’s planned construction, the aesthetic concerns would no long apply.

“We hope that our investment in our site, when finished, will be viewed as a new green space amenity that will be pleasing to both current and future residents,” Schmidt said.

Even if the aesthetic concerns were solved, Rader is not convinced that the current plans will solve the safety or parking problems. The proposed parking lot would have entry solely from Hanley Road.  Rader questioned the parking lot traffic leaving and entering the lot.

”I can guarantee you, if you’re number 50 on that parking lot and you have to wait to get out on Hanley Road, you will not be going back,” Rader said. “You’re going to park on that parking lot once and then you are going to go back and park on our streets exactly the same way you have been doing it for the past 45 years.”

According to Schmidt, the church rejected the Trustees’ alternative proposal because it would “result in the loss of over a third of the planned parking.” However, he said that the church was forming a team with the trustees, city and county to research alternatives that would meet the needs of the all parties involved.

Beard thinks it is important to recognize that the church is in no way an evil institution trying to destroy the neighborhood.  She said that the one-hour parking was presented as “a real positive” in the church and they were open to new ideas to “alleviate the feelings of the neighbors.”

“The main thing that is unfortunate is that so many people who live in Davis Place that are unhappy with what’s happening,” Beard said.

Rader agreed with Beard in that aspect.

“It is a difficult problem that is not new, one that has just gotten worse since the city stopped giving out ‘restricted parking’ cones,” Rader said. “However, I think that the church are nice people.  They are not mean.  I just don’t think they are using what they got.”

While neighbors are wary, the church is confident that they will be able to meet the needs of their congregation and concerns about parking in the community.  Both the church and Davis Place residents hope that a solution can be agreed upon which will meet both of their goals: allowing for better parking accommodations for church members and maintaining the character of the neighborhood.