Celebration residents, fire officials at odds about parking
CELEBRATION — Turmoil over street parking has struck Celebration, the Osceola County community first designed by Walt Disney Co. that has been lauded for its small-town charm.
Fire officials say that on-street parking could interfere with emergency response, which has some residents in the development of about 10,000 worried that the county could restrict or even ban street parking on Celebration’s narrow streets.
“It will completely devalue our community if they take away our street parking — any of it,” said Geoffrey Mouen, an architect who lives in Celebration. “If there was no parking, nobody could come visit me.”
Deputy Fire Chief Daniel McAvoy said his firefighters have complained that they have had difficulty navigating the commu-
nity’s streets in part because of cars parked on them. The deputy chief said the neighborhood hasn’t had any recent fires and couldn’t cite a specific incident leading to his concerns. He said he was looking for a compromise that would satisfy his concerns.
“We don’t want to be slowed down by anything,” McAvoy said.
McAvoy said he spent eight years battling with the neighborhood to trim trees to allow the firetrucks to reach homes easily. Now the community regularly trims back its trees, and the deputy chief has moved on to trying to address street parking.
“This is about community safety,” McAvoy said. “We’re not out here to disrupt, upset or confuse; we’re trying to make the community safer for everybody.”
Residents argue that onstreet parking is a necessity in the community Disney designed in the 1990s as a slice of Americana on land south of its theme parks and east of Interstate 4. In 2001, the Urban Land Institute named it the New Community of the Year.
The community has existed for more than two decades, and residents are questioning what has changed now.
Narrow streets snake through the development, and homes are often built on cul-de-sacs, where residents’ and visitors’ vehicles typically park. Alleyways behind the homes lead to attached one- or two-car garages. Parking is banned in the alleys, leaving residents with limited options.
The Mouens typically have three vehicles at their home — Geoffrey’s wife and 19-year-old daughter also drive — and they worry about how a streetparking ban would change their lives.
“Three vehicles wouldn’t fit on my property,” said Mouen, who said he has spoken to a real estate agent about selling his home because of the potential change. “My daughter would have to move, or we’d have to get rid of a car. In Central Florida, it’s pretty much the only form of independent transportation we have. … It’d be awful for us.”
Floyd McCollum frequently walks and rides his bicycle in the neighborhood, which he said is part of the draw to Celebration. The on-street parking, paired with trees that line the roads, creates a buffer that he says increases pedestrian safety and keeps vehicle speeds low.
“It’s a very safe place to bike and walk,” said McCollum, who is also a board member for the community development district. “This is how it was designed.”
McCollum, a longtime Celebration resident, has met with both the residents association and the community development district board about the issue, and both gatherings were packed with concerned neighbors.
He said the groups agreed to urge the Fire Department to cease its efforts to remove parking from streets.
To help firefighters find specific homes in an emergency, they also are asking officials to create a database with specific instructions on how best to reach each address, because firefighters typically respond to the front of a residence. However, in some instances, going to the rear alleyway could be easier.
A petition asking the county to preserve onstreet parking that briefly circulated on Change.org reached close to 200 signatures, but it was temporarily shut down by its creator to make way for a future one.
McAvoy said he is looking forward to further discussions, though no meetings are currently scheduled. “We’re trying to come up with a compromise to make everybody safer and happier,” the deputy fire chief said. “I’ve made a lot of good friends in this world through compromise.’’
Any parking change would have to come before Osceola County commissioners for approval. County spokesman Mark Pino said there are no plans yet for that discussion. Commissioner Peggy Choudry, whose district includes Celebration, emailed concerned residents Thursday evening, stating the county has no “immediate plans” to change parking rules.