Parking Ban, Median OKd for West Valencia

Residents of the city’s West Valencia Drive neighborhood applauded a City Council decision this week to ban parking on the street and construct a median.

“We certainly are pleased,” said Pete Blanchard, a 31-year resident of the area.

He and about 100 other homeowners had been lobbying the council to take action since a three-story housing project was built on Valencia last year. They had requested that the city beautify the street and provide more privacy for single-family residences.

The reconstruction project will include the erection of a raised 10-foot-wide median island on Valencia between Meade and Magnolia avenues. It will contain several trees that residents say will provide a screen between the apartments and the homes across the street.

The project, estimated to cost nearly $140,000, also will prohibit parking on the north side of Valencia from Edward Avenue to the city’s western boundary and on the south side from Meade to Edward.