Atlanta

Neighbors say they have nowhere to park after city uncovers new meters

ATLANTA — People who live and work in a historic Atlanta neighborhood say without warning, they have been left with no place to park.

Neighbors in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hill woke up to an unwelcome surprise: newly uncovered parking meters and a new 2-hour parking limit.

“Essentially overnight the meters started going active,” said Carrie Burns, a Castleberry Hill resident for the past 20 years.

Many of the homes and businesses in Castleberry Hill are in old, converted factories with limited or no parking.

People who live and work here rely on street parking.

“This is a direct attack on the residents and small businesses of Castleberry Hill. That’s it,” Burns said.

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A city of Atlanta spokesperson tells Channel 2 Action news this is the same parking plan the neighborhood association voted for in 2020, and was approved by the city council in 2021. It just took a while to implement.

The city says it is designed to protect residents and businesses from game day parking for the nearby Mercedes Benz Stadium. But according to the street signs, parking will be free and not monitored on Sundays when most Falcons games are played.

Patrick Collins, the vice president of the Castleberry Hill Neighborhood Association, contends that the plan they discussed with the city included a resident parking permit program.

But if you go the city’s website and look for an application today, Castleberry Hill residents are still not eligible for residential parking passes, even though the meters are now up all over their neighborhood.

“When you grow up in the city, live in the city, you understand that you must figure out, how do you park your car, where is it is it going to be safe. But right now, with the implementation they have it is not conducive for any resident or any business here,” Collins said.

A city of Atlanta spokesperson tells Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray that they are in the final stages of installing signage for the residential parking permit zone, and Castleberry Hill will be the first area in the city to allow online registration. But that’s not happening yet.

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