Filed by Ben Allen in Local News.
September 24, 2012

It took no more than five minutes Monday night for the Stillwater City Council to repeal parking regulations. The unanimous vote pulled back the requirement for a parking permit in the Westwood neighborhood, on the southwest side of Oklahoma State University.

Mayor John Bartley says the area around Westwood Elementary is different than the streets bordering OSU.

“That doesn’t need the same set of rules and the same resolution, same impacts as areas where the traffic generation is all day every day.”

Nancy Beckstrom has lived in the neighborhood for close to 30 years, and sees the difficulty is balancing everyone’s concerns…

“Something needs to be fair. Homeowners live there, older people live there, children live there, students live there. That’s the beauty of the neighborhood, it’s also the beast.”

The city has hired a parking consultant to look at Stillwater’s parking needs, the report is expected by January.