Thanksgiving

Allen Residents Served ‘No Parking' Signs for Thanksgiving

The parking ban is geared toward preventing Black Friday shoppers from parking in residential areas

Imagine hosting Thanksgiving at your house, but suddenly your guests have nowhere to park. It's a reality for some people in an Allen neighborhood who say they're being punished because of Black Friday shoppers.

The holiday mall madness has been maddening to StarCreek residents over the years.

"People were just parking all up and down the streets, they'll hop the fences," Antoine Byrd said.

First, because of unwanted traffic from the nearby Allen Premium Outlets.

"There's other people that just disrespect the property and leave their trash," Kelly Pearson said.

Now, because of disrupted plans.

"We obviously own these homes, we pay taxes. Why should we not be able to park on our street on a holiday?" asked John Johnson.

Johnson is one of many residents told that there will be no parking in front of his Allen home this Thanksgiving, even though he's hosting dinner.

"Ten to 15 (people) depending on who shows up. Our daughters, their boyfriends, grandsons, great grandma," he said.

Johnson was just informed by his homeowner's association about the new five-day street ban. About 130 signs will go up in the StarCreek neighborhood, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 21. Many residents wanted to know why they can't just put a tag or permit in their car, but Allen police said because the neighborhood has public roadways, they can't legally pick and choose who parks here. For this ordinance, it's all or nothing. Three officers plan to enforce the ban and call a tow truck for those in violation.

"I can't even imagine. I would be really mad, but we don't know what to do so I guess if we have to we'll go park somewhere and use other cars to shuttle people here," Johnson said.

It sounds like a logistical nightmare when you're trying not to burn the turkey, but not everyone's against the plan.

"I kind of like this, I like it. Prevents all the riff raff from entering your neighborhood," Byrd said.

Those who aren't expecting company said they may not be inconvenienced, but they understand many of their neighbors might have a problem on their hands -- especially ones with guests who are elderly or disabled.

While many support the effort to curb congestion, some said this goes too far.

“There's an HOA site, resident site and everyone's in an uproar about it. No one's happy,” Johnson said.

“I think it's in the beginning stages and maybe this is a guinea pig year,” Pearson said.

Neighbors are being encouraged to share their driveway space. Once the parking ban is lifted, the HOA wants to hear feedback to adjust the plan for next year.

Allen police said they worked with the city to pass the ordinance at the request of the neighborhood.

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