ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Gail Wisler and others who live on Martin Luther King Avenue in St. Augustine know their Lincolnville neighborhood.
So they were surprised to see curbs on one side of their block painted with fresh yellow paint this week, which means they can't park there anymore.
"We were disappointed," Wisler said.
This is the block between South Street and Duero Road. One house that doesn't have a driveway now has no parking space. And most people in this block relied on on-street parking because they have small driveways. So that means residents and their guests are now "going to be parking in front of everybody else's house," Wisler explained.
On the part of the block by Duero Street, the eastern curb has been painted for years. But the western curb now has fresh yellow paint on it, which means now people can't park on either side of the street at that end of the block.
Granted, there is a "no parking" sign where that fresh paint is. And the city mobility director told First Coast News that parking has not been allowed on the west side of the street in this block of ML King for at least four years.
Sure enough, First Coast News pulled up Google Maps and found "no parking" street signs from 2015, but the signs are at either end of the block.
"It wasn't clear to me," Wisler said.
According to imagery from Google Maps from 2015, most of the western curb had no yellow paint on it, so people parked on the street.
"People have been parking, yeah," Wisler said.
Because of that lack of clarity with the signs and the unpainted curbs, people have been parking on the west side of the block for years. That's why it's so surprising now for the parking spots to be painted yellow.
Two months ago, just one block up, the City painted the curbs on the west side of the road yellow as well. The mobility director said emergency vehicles needed more space to smoothly travel the road.
This time around, the City says it notified residents about the paint job. Some people say they got a letter. Others say they didn't. The city mobility director says other curbs will not be painted.
Many who live in the area, like Wisler, say traveling down this part of the road has never been an issue, even with people parking along the curb. She said drivers are understanding whenever it gets a little crowded.
"It's never been a problem. We all just wave, and smile and say 'peace' and 'thank you,' you know," Wisler said.