D.C. churchgoers pack pews - and parking spots

WASHINGTON - As parishioners pack city churches every Sunday, area residents complain that worshippers are clogging city streets with their parked cars.

But some are hopeful that a measure before the D.C. Council could help ease that weekly friction.

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. introduced a bill last week that would create neighborhood-centered parking plans, allocating diagonal residential spaces to churchgoers. Local advisory neighborhood commissions would have to approve the plans, which also would have to be included in a supporting petition circulated in the community.

"We hope this can be a model for not just the traffic patterns we have on Sundays around religious institutions, but also looking at our business corridors and how we can more efficiently put vehicles in those corridors on a temporary basis," Thomas said.

A couple of years ago, the city drafted a plan with several suggestions to curb Sunday parking problems in neighborhoods: angled parking, median parking, private garages, shuttle and valet services, carpooling and staggered worship hours. Some plans went into effect, such as angled parking on Vermont Avenue and 9th Street, but problems have continued. *