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The long-standing fight over church parking in D.C.'s Shaw neighborhood is heating up again.
Neighbors say someone affiliated with Lincoln Congregational Temple has begun putting out traffic cones on Saturday nights to reserve parking spaces along 11th Street for parishioners. The trouble is, say neighbors, that the spaces are in-demand public parking.
Near Metropolitan Baptist Church, the cones and signs discourage parking in public spaces hours after the last service has ended.
"They put them out the night - before probably something like that - and it's marked off, has a little sign say for the pastor and Congregation only," said neighborhood resident Jason Powell.
Neighbors have taken home video of the cones and reserved parking signs being put out on Saturday night, long before the church opens its doors. There are also photos detailing the lengths some house of worship, such as Lincoln Congregational Temple, go to to make sure their parishioners have an easy time finding parking.
"One of the easiest excuses is I couldn't get into church because there is no parking space, so, please, let them get in," said parishioner Oswalk Hoges.
But the people who live around these churches are furious about the faithful laying claim to public property.
"I'll move the cone myself and park because I live right here so I'm not going to let a cone prevent me from parking in front of my own house."
"You cant park; I mean it prevents, it deters people from parking in those spots, which are open city spots," said neighborhood resident Kevin Notter. "I don't even see the people who actually put the cones out, they just appear. I never see anybody actually placing the cones."
"The citizens around here can't put cones in front of their house and say, 'Hey, don't park here because it's my spot,'" said resident Scot Rogerson.
The residents who do remove the cones and no parking signs say they "just keep reappearing like mushrooms."
The battle over parking in the neighborhood has a long history. The churches used to serve neighborhood congregants who have since relocated to the suburbs and return on Sunday mornings for services. Some say their trek to church began long before the neighborhood's new residents moved in.
"We respect the persons that live in this neighborhood; we respect that they have homes here, but we worship here and we are only here on Sunday," said Shirley Clark of Mount Gilead Baptist Church.
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