A discussion concerning public parking on a residential street in Lansford turned explosive Wednesday night during the monthly Lansford Borough Council meeting.

The issue of parking on East Water Street arose during the public comment section of the meeting, with resident Rich Bower voicing parking complaints on behalf of himself and neighbors.

Bower said he felt it was unfair that residents who lived on the street could not park there due to the width of the road. He estimated it to be the same width as other streets in the town which allow street parking.

“I took some of my own measurements. I understand that it’s a little tight there and that’s what the concern is, but there are also other streets in town that are the same exact distance that you are allowed to drive two ways where East Water is a one-way. There are four other streets that I measured that are within 1 foot of the same width of our street. So if it’s only fair that we’re not allowed to park there then nobody else should be allowed to park on those other streets as well.”

President Bruce Markovich responded, saying that the issue had more to do with people parking improperly, leading to issues regarding emergency vehicles and garbage trucks driving on the street.

“The problem up there isn’t with the width of the street, the problem is with the way the people are parking. They’re parking a foot and a half away from the curb and we couldn’t get any vehicles down there.”

One resident asked when they would be able to park on East Water Street again. Councilman William Chuma said he had personal complaints with residents blocking the road and noted that the public also had issues with the poor parking as well.

He felt that parking should remain prohibited there considering the inconvenience for drivers and safety hazards regarding emergency vehicles.

Residents said individual tickets should be written for parking violations and that the street as a whole did not deserve to be punished for isolated incidents.

“So is that what we’re gonna do all the time? We’re going to just have people calling for tickets all the time?” said Chuma, indicating that the issue arose too often to solely handle it on a case-by-case basis.

The discussion escalated as residents continued to push the issue, stating that the borough was taking away their privilege to park despite residents paying their mortgages and rent to live on the street.

Mayor Michele Bartek responded to the claim that parking is the residents’ privilege, saying, “It is a privilege that can be taken or given.”

Ultimately after the discussion calmed down, both the borough and the residents came to the conclusion to plan a meeting with one another to check out the street and try to reach a solution for the problem together.