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Parking along Virginia Beach’s Shore Drive a hot topic

Posted at 7:50 PM, Aug 20, 2014
and last updated 2014-08-21 11:15:56-04

Virginia Beach, Va. - Parking in the Shore Drive area of Virginia Beach is scarce.

"Definitely see people parking where they shouldn't," said Tyler Nechanicky, who lives off of Shore Drive.

And in some places, parking is non-existent.

"I know people just have random people showing up and trying to park in their yard, thinking it's okay when it's not," said Nechanicky.

Several parking signs are posted around the Chesapeake Bay beaches, warning drivers not to park.  Some of those signs are legal, with city authorized stickers on the back.  Other signs have been found to be illegal, made by people who live in the area, trying to keep drivers out of their yards.

On top of that, some people say folks who park right along Shore Drive are causing problems even though no parking is allowed anywhere along the busy road.

"Just turning in some days, there's people right along this corner, people walking from the beach, and I can't even turn onto the street just because there are people on both sides.  So I'm sure it's a big hazard," said Nechanicky.

The City of Virginia Beach is working to find more parking on Shore Drive between the Lesner Bridge and First Landing State Park.  In fact, so far, the City has added about 40 new spaces for people to park in the section north of Shore Drive from W. Great Neck Road to just east of the Lesner Bridge.  They've also identified and removed several illegal no parking signs and issued citations to homeowners.

However, some residents want the city to do more to enforce the parking rules.

"That's probably the only way it's going to be fixed. It's probably the only way people are going to take it seriously," said Nechanicky.

The Bayfront Advisory Committee will meet again Thursday, August 21, with parking, or the lack thereof, a hot topic.