Last week the residents of Garden City Park met with North Hempstead Town Councilman Angelo Ferrara regarding parking on streets in Garden City Park, mainly in the neighborhood and around the Merillon railroad station.

Clinton Martin Park Center was packed as residents filed into to discuss the problems they have with parking. Their complaints were about the parking restrictions and the numerous parking tickets they have been issued in and around their homes.

According to most of the residents, the commuters are the biggest violators because they think nothing of parking for the entire day and sometimes the night in front of residents' homes. That makes the residents have to park way down the street and not near their own homes.

A moratorium was put into effect while Councilman Ferrara tried to come up with a plan. After a meeting, almost a year ago, Ferrara and his team decided to do things "out of the box" by sending out questionnaires to residents about parking restrictions on their individual blocks. Some residents didn't respond, so Ferrara sent his staff members door to door to get opinions from the homeowners.

From the results of all the research Ferrara came up with a plan for each block based on majority rule and the posters that were placed around the room at the meeting outlining how each block would be affected by the new restrictions.

During the meeting, the residents praised Ferrara stating he was the "only person" who ever listened and the only one that addressed their dilemma.

Ferrara said, "The new parking restrictions were designed by the residents for the residents."

The Illustrated News called Councilman Ferrara's office for an exact outline, street by street, of the restrictions, but was told that they are still "tweaking" some of the streets for the residents and as soon as a final plan is in place they will make sure The Illustrated receives it.

Residents also asked if Ferrara could help curtail residents who "blow through stop signs." However, the police are the only ones who can ticket such violators. Another resident complained about the Moving Ahead Storage business located on 5th Avenue. She complained they park anywhere on the street and in some cases have blocked her driveway. Ferrara said he would take care of the situation immediately and assured the residents he would talk to the owner personally.

Councilman Ferrara will present the changes to the next town board meeting in Feb. 13 for approval. (Michele Chambers contributed to this meeting report.)