Prior to 2005, unsightly abandoned and junk vehicles had been a decade old problem in the Kulshan Creek neighborhood. With limited parking in the densely populated neighborhood, individuals often stored their unused and broken down vehicles on N 26th Street, Kulshan Avenue and Kulshan View Drive. A two-week study was conducted and it was learned that over 60% of the vehicles parked on these streets did not move during the study period; many of these vehicles were not even drivable and most had been vandalized in some manner.
After a number of neighborhood meetings with residents, apartment managers and other city departments, a new parking ordinance was adopted by the Mount Vernon City Council that limited on-street parking in the neighborhood. The new ordinance prohibited on-street parking for a 4-hour block each Monday, and gave the Mount Vernon Police Department the authority to tow any vehicles parked on the street. During the 4-hour period, the Mount Vernon Street Department would clean the street.
The new parking ordinance had proven so successful in reducing the number of abandoned and junk vehicles that residents in other neighborhoods in Mount Vernon worked with the city council to adopted similar parking ordinances.
