Im a big long time hater of this city law, I drive my wife crazy complaining about it most Sundays. I think at some point a while ago I made a long winded post aboht it on this forum. If you dig into it, some of the places this allows you to legally park on Sundays are absolutely insane. Its a garbage law that at minimum needs to be reduced to some specific areas of downtown if thats what the intent is. That said, I do take full advantage and often park in absurd places on Sundays just because I can, while avoiding bike lanes of course.
3 Likes
I fully expect @GucciLittlePig to take offense to this. I had @Jake as 2nd biggest jokester on here.
6 Likes
Well now you’ve offended us both.
3 Likes
So to clarify are all no parking zones unenforceable on Sundays, for the entire day, how do they determine “during church?” Are no tickets issued on Sunday?
Good question. Let’s all go clog a narrow street with No Parking signs on a Sunday and send pictures of all our cars to City Council and see if they still agree with this insane and vague exception! LOL
Section 11-2172 states a significant limitation on church parking: “provided, use of such areas for church services on Sunday shall not be construed to permit parking where parking is otherwise prohibited by this article”. The “article” means Article J (Parking and Standing) of Chapter 2 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic) of Part 11 (Transportation). Article J has 22 Sections. For example, Section 11-2178 prevents parking in a bus zone. Churchgoers cannot park in bus zones on Sunday. Likewise for taxi zones (Section 11-2184).
Maybe the cyclist community could argue for additional prohibitions to be written into a new Section, which would trump the church provision in 11-2172. That said, my guess is that the number of churchgoers in the City exceeds the number of serious cyclists.
4 Likes
I wouldn’t over estimate the numbers of churchgoers, given that this is really only applicable to downtown and a few other ITB neighborhoods. The vast majority of churches in this city have plentiful off-street parking.
1 Like
The full text is:
11-2172. NO PARKING ZONES.
When signs are erected or painted on the street giving notice thereof, no person shall at any time, except during church services on Sundays, or other times designated in official Traffic Schedule No. 13, park any vehicle within the areas designated as “no parking” zones; provided, use of such areas for church services on Sunday shall not be construed to permit parking where parking is otherwise prohibited by this article. The Transportation Department shall erect or paint signs at locations designated as “no parking” zones. Locations designed as “no parking” zones shall be as set out in official Traffic Schedule No. 13, “No Parking Zones.”
Im no lawyer. The way I’ve interpreted this is that where there’s a sign that says “NO PARKING”, you cant park there except during church services on Sundays. Which essentially means you CAN park anywhere there is a no parking sign on Sundays, since there is a church service somewhere in Raleigh pretty much all day on Sundays and it doesnt say you actually have to be going to church, just parking during church services. Like ctillnc mentions, it does specify that this applies only to areas signed specifically “NO PARKING” and does not include areas signed otherwise, like bus zones. If you look at Traffic Schedule 13 youll see that this rule allows you to park in some wild places, for example all of Western Blvd, most of Wade Avenue, most of Capital Blvd.
2 Likes
What do you think will happen for City employees in new municipal building? They wait two years to get on list to pay $65 month now. Most park 5-6 blocks away and walk or pay $120 plus.
Don’t really understand the outrage about this one. I’m not crazy about the tower but I think the parking pedestal is actually well-designed using quality materials (terra cotta) that add a lot to the pedestrian experience. I like that it’s honest about what it is, too – I think that’s a much stronger position to take architecturally than trying to formally merge parking and occupied space. The proportions are just awkward.
6 Likes
That second pic does show a more harmonious design that first, which just looked disconnected. I like the bottom, I like the top, I dont really care for them combined.
5 Likes
I think the contrast is what makes it great 
3 Likes
My problem with it isn’t the materials, it’s the fact that it’s taller (or at least appears to be) than the occupied space of the building, in the middle of their downtown; which is insane. So my gripe really isn’t with the architect, it’s with the developer.
1 Like
Imagine always having to park on the top level of that garage—by the time the driver winds their way down daily, they’ve probably made more left turns in a year than a NASCAR driver at the Indy 500.
6 Likes
My biggest beef with that building is that they use the word “masonary” on the web page.
This’ll be fun. The Indy 500 is two hundred laps (500 is for the number of miles). Let’s say you work here, so you traverse the parking deck five days a week.
- 200 laps × 4 lefts per lap = 800 left turns
- 12 floors of parking × 4 left turns per floor × 2 directions (arriving and leaving) = 96 left turns
- 800 / 96 = 8.333 days
So when pulling into work on Thursday of your second week of work you’d have already beaten the Indy driver.
(I guess technically you’d win as soon as you took your first left, since the Indy 500 is not a NASCAR event 
)
7 Likes
I was gonna say, are we talking about NASCAR or IndyCar?
Since Formula 1 is more my race style, the Singapore GP in Marina Bay has the most turns at 23 per lap and the GP is 62 laps for a total of 1,426 turns (not all left of course).
In this case, the office worker is looking at “winning” more turns on day 14.
2 Likes
What if we’ve totally misunderstood the premise? A NASCAR driver at the Indy 500 is doing all of the NASCAR races plus the Indy 500. So you add the 200 laps from Indy to the 9,744 run in 2024 (2024 Laps and Miles: By The Numbers)
you get 9,944 total laps x 4 turns (many of the larger oval tracks have only 3 true turns, but there are also several road tracks so on average 4 is not a bad guess). That’s 39,776 left turns, divided by 96 turns a day gives you 414 1/3 days!
So a 12 story parking deck is very reasonable actually. /s
2 Likes
The North Carolina House of Representatives voted 107-0 yesterday to amend state law to prohibit any zoning or other development regulation from requiring an off-street parking lot to meet a minimum number of parking spaces per development or structure, regardless of occupancy or use.
In simple English, this is a ban on mandatory parking minimums in local zoning codes. The bill now goes to the Senate for its action. If passed, this law, HB 369, would be a real boon to smart development in Raleigh and elsewhere. This is fantastic news! (Sorry if there was a better thread for this post, or this has already been posted elsewhere.)
20 Likes
Policy changes are beginning to make car ownership less convenient, and while I don’t believe any market in North Carolina is quite ready to fully embrace car-free development, we are finally seeing momentum toward reducing excessive parking requirements. Rising insurance premiums and vehicle manufacturing costs are adding new layers to the affordability challenges of car ownership, something that may frustrate those who can’t imagine life without a vehicle. Still, I believe we’re starting to see the early signs of a shift toward more car-lite lifestyles in urban areas.
If you find yourself in dire need of automobile exposure, but your personal vehicle is not around -may I recommend sliding into the passenger seat of @GucciLittlePig’s luxury motorcar!
(You’ll be riding in style, without the monthly payments, insurance premiums, or parking hassle while giving him the joy of the “open” road he lives for - free of charge of course!)
7 Likes