Council agrees to request to move no parking sign

The Red Oak City Council has agreed to move a location for a proposed no parking sign.
The council heard comments from Earl Reed, who lives at a residence at 203 S. 2nd St, which was impacted by the sign’s location, and requested the sign be moved slightly up from the intersection. Red Oak Police Chief Justin Rhamy said the sign is currently 65 feet from the intersection on 2nd St. south, and there is no parking from the sign to the corner.
“He was requesting the sign be moved up from 65 feet to 50 feet. I met with him, measured out the distance, looked at the intersection, and I felt moving the sign up would be okay, but obviously the ordinance is on the books and Mr. Reed needed to comment before the council before anything could be done,” Rhamy said.
Reed then spoke before the council, citing the fact that the location of the sign would infringe on the area they park.
“It’s the only place we have to park. The neighbors have three vehicles and a motorcycle sometimes. I’m handicapped. I have a pacemaker. My wife is handicapped and has a pacemaker and defibrillator. She can’t walk, and it would be wonderful if we could move the sign back that short distance. It would give plenty of room for seeing around the intersection,” stated Reed.
With their living situation, Reed said if they had no room to park in front of the residence, they’d be in trouble.
“We would have to probably go across the street and park on the hill coming down, I don’t know. But we’d very much like that sign moved back 15 feet like the chief said,” advised Reed.
Rhamy added that the sign had been missing for long enough that Reed was probably not aware the sign existed.
“He wasn’t aware a sign was going to be put up until they went to put the flags in his yard, and that’s when he contacted us,” Rhamy stated.
Kathi Most, a resident at 300 S. 2nd St. also spoke about the sign. Most said a no parking sign had been there for quite some time before disappearing.
“It was a no parking from here to corner sign. I think it’s been a year or longer since it disappeared. The original location was by 2nd Street and Short Street. There was always a sign that allowed people to come around the corner because the street is only a one car path with parking on one side. We knew the sign was gone because we had people parking, and when you tried to clear the traffic, you were already out to the intersection and someone would usually be coming, so one of us would have to back up,” Most said.
Discussions on the sign have taken place for a year or more. Most said the area wasn’t a true intersection.
“It’s almost an “s” intersection that goes into Nishna Productions. The thing that I think about is the fact that I go up and down that street at least four times a day, and have had to back up, or come around, and when you’re going north to south, headed southbound, you’re blocking the intersection and the other person can’t turn either because you’re right there and there’s other cars,” commented Most. “The long story short is that it’s dangerous for the people traveling to not have an amount of road with no parked cars so people can pull over, but it also is a problem for fire trucks. We have semis go through there, and city vehicles. From our point of view, we’d like it back where it was.”
Most suggested that since Reed had the adjoining lot, he could install a driveway and park up towards his house.
“There is a lot beside the house that would allow them to take a vehicle off the street, but it would have to be graveled. We’re learning you can rock your own driveway and park on your own land,” Most said.
Reed asked if the curb could be removed for laying a gravel driveway. City administrator Kyra Smith said it would with a permit, but it would need more than gravel.
“The first 15 feet of the driveway would have to be cement, and then the rest of the drive could be gravel or an approved parking surface,”  advised Smith.
Councilperson Jeanice Lester confirmed Rhamy had no issues with the 15 feet movement of the sign. Rhamy stated he had none.
“Standing at the intersection, I watched several people go around it where his vehicle was well south of that area, and I felt that would be ok,” Rhamy commented.
The council agreed to move forward with amending the ordinance to move the sign the requested distance.
Smith suggested the council could review the ordinance and see what other signs were affected and potentially make changes to the locations of other signs, or other changes.
No further action was taken by the council.