September 18th, 2024 by WCBC Radio

The Cumberland Mayor and City Council continued discussion during their work session Tuesday evening about the parking situation in Butler and Church Alleys that run behind businesses on North Centre Street.  Crowded parking on both sides of the alleys hamper emergency vehicles that may need to access the area.  Plans discussed include towing illegally parked vehicles and creating lease agreements with tenants that live in the area. Mayor Ray Morriss says the Right-Of-Way for first responders needs to be protected…

“You almost have to enforce your right of way. If that means no parking on the right hand side of any of the buildings, you have to do that. Especially now that we have knowledge of it. Now that we have knowledge of it, if we say hmm we’re not going to worry about people parking on the right hand side, and then there’s an emergency and we can’t get there, then we the city have acknowledged that we’re going to go against what would be the protection of the right of way.”