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Community Corner

Neighborhood News

 The neighborhood council of Harvey, Wilson, and Burr Oak streets in Kent unanimously adopted a resolution to privatize their streets at their monthly meeting last Saturday night in the Walls School library; the action will be voted upon April 1 in a referendum of all property owners having a residence on the streets for at least 180 days.

According to Chester O'Conner, chair of the council, privatization will reduce crime, speeding, and accidents in the neighborhood; provide money for the maintenance of the streets that the city of Kent no longer provides because of budget restrictions; and encourage neighborliness and social interaction among residents. An eventual consideration is the creation of a nearly car-free mall.

The proposal calls for the construction of toll booths at the entrance
to Harvey Street at Lake Street and to Wilson Avenue at East Main Street, as well as the closure of the intersecting streets of Crain Avenue, Doramor Street, and Steele Street.  The two major streets will be renamed Harvey Wilson Street and Burr Oak Drive will be known as Harvey Wilson Court.  There was no word on when the plan would be operational.

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O'Conner told the the Record-Courier that if the plan is passed,
residents of the streets will have unlimited access to existing streets
via a card system. Non-residents would be charged according to the types of vehicles and frequency of street usage. Cars will be assessed $0.15 per use, with a round-trip being $0.25.  Vehicles with a gross weight tonnage exceeding 2500 pounds delivering to residents will pay $5 per round-trip, while vehicles in the same weight class only passing through and not returning by the same route within an hour would be charged an additional $2.50. Bicyclists would be charged $0.10 per through trip; the cost for motorcycles will be the same as for bicycles.  Towed vehicles will additionally be charged the same rates as their towing vehicles. O'Conner explained that the debit-card pass system would
eventually be offered to all motorists and other traffic and that
resident volunteers will initially man the booths.

Some 2500 cars, trucks, school buses, and other daily traffic would be affected by the privatization. In the effort to encourage environmental issues, all current road signage will be repainted green.

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Discussions for the plan began last December when some residents
objected to what they believe will be a takeover by proponents of the town-gown agenda.  O'Conner said that he has received calls from other neighborhoods in Kent and as far away as North Little Rock, AR, and Tupelo, MS, expressing interest in the plan.

Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala and Law Director James Silver declined to comment on the plan until they receive further details. However, Silver noted that a similar attempt to privatize streets in Center, Indiana, wound up in the Supreme Court of Indiana but was dismissed because federal and state roads were included.  However, legal fees caused the village to declare bankruptcy and it lost its corporate status.

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