Fayetteville residents could turn the free parking in front of their homes into no-parking zones under a proposed policy that the city council is considering.
The idea is controversial, so the council is soliciting public comment during a hearing scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday at City Hall. People who want to speak need to sign up online with the City Clerk’s Office or contact the city clerk at cityclerk@fayettevillenc.gov.
The policy would apply to residential streets in Fayetteville with multi‑use lanes—where a stripe painted on the street marks a lane for cyclists, pedestrians, and parked cars. Under the proposal, residents on streets with these lanes could petition the city to prohibit parking there.
The public hearing will give residents an opportunity to share their views before the council decides whether to adopt the policy.
With strong opinions on both sides—some emphasizing neighborhood control and others warning of unintended consequences—the hearing is expected to draw significant interest from across the city.
How No-Parking Zones Would Work
The proposed system mirrors the city’s existing process for speed bump requests. If 70% of residents on a street agree, the city installs a speed bump. Under the new policy, the same 70% threshold would apply to establishing a no‑parking zone in a multi‑use lane.
City staff have outlined guidelines for how the process would function:
- No parking can be requested only for residential local streets with multi‑use lanes.
- Restrictions would apply by block, from intersection to intersection.
- Mailers and ballots would be sent to properties within the proposed restriction area for signature approval.
- Requests would remain open for 60 days; once closed, no new request for that block would be accepted for six months.
- A 70% signature threshold is required, matching the city’s speed hump process.
- Signatures would be required from residents on both sides of the street, even if the no‑parking zone applies to only one side; the 70% threshold must be met on each side.
- Abandoned homes and vacant lots would not count toward the number of required signatures.
- Owners, renters, and tenants may sign; however, an owner’s signature overrides a renter or tenant signature, consistent with the speed hump process.
- For multi‑family properties, only the units directly adjacent to the affected street would be counted toward the signature requirement.
City staff said that other North Carolina municipalities—including Greenville, Concord, Durham, and Raleigh—already have formal procedures for adding no‑parking zones. Larger cities in the state with populations over 100,000 typically employ a dedicated parking manager to handle such requests.
How Multi-Use Lane No-Parking Emerged
In June 2025, then‑council member Mario Benavente asked city staff to explore a structured process for establishing no‑parking zones. Benavente said he raised the issue after hearing concerns from residents in the Country Club North neighborhood.
The proposal is intended to resolve confusion created years ago when the city converted some dedicated bike lanes into multi‑use lanes, according to City Manager Doug Hewett. In some cases, lanes that were previously bike lanes and prohibited parking suddenly appeared open to it, leaving both residents and enforcement uncertain about what was allowed.
The city defines a multi-use lane as “a lane marked on a roadway and designed for use by pedestrians and cyclists. Allowable uses include motor vehicle parking, walking, biking, trash collection, recreation etc.”
“We made an action and had unintended consequences and we heard back from the citizens,” Mayor Mitch Colvin said during a November 24 council meeting. “I believe this empowers the citizens currently with a power that they don’t have.”
Colvin added that the policy would give neighborhoods more control over how their streets function. “This is a way to give more options for a community to decide what happens on their street,” he said.
Will No-Parking Zones Impact Property Values?
Not everyone is convinced the proposed policy is a good idea.
At a September 2 meeting, council member Deno Hondros called the proposal “a cure that’s worse than the ailment.” He said that while some residents don’t want vehicles parked in front of their homes, the long‑term consequences could be significant.
“If you poll all the residents the majority will tell you they don’t want parking in front of their house,” Hondros said. “And it sounds good in theory, but it’s going to negatively impact a lot of things, including the value of your home.”
Hondros, a real estate agent, warned that limiting parking could reduce home values by as much as 25%. “This is more impactful than I think we’re giving it credence for,” he said during the November meeting.
Council member Lynne Greene, also a real estate agent, echoed similar concerns, adding that there are questions left unanswered. She said she has heard from residents who oppose the idea. “They did not like the idea when they started questioning me,” Greene said. “I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know the answers.”
Some council members have pointed out that residents already have a path to request no‑parking zones. Currently, a resident can bring the request to a council member, who then brings it before the full council. Staff review the request, make recommendations, and the council votes to approve or deny it.
Benavente argued that the new policy would actually be more rigorous than the existing system.
“What we’re proposing is more stringent, probably, than what already exists where one individual can talk to one council member about doing this,” he said on November 24 “Now, we’re requiring a 70% threshold.”
Government reporter Rachel Heimann Mercader can be reached at rheimann@cityviewnc.com or 910-988-8045.
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