Clearing up question of a few feet would help parking crunch

IT'S ONLY a short stretch of sidewalk. But when you're searching for a parking space in Ghent, every linear foot counts.

Jacky Fisher says Norfolk is dangling a few precious parking spaces in front of drivers in the 600 block of Olney Road, at Stockley Gardens, but making them off-limits.

"Ghent is a very congested area," Fisher wrote. "To take away even one parking space for no viable reason does not help."

The reason she - and, apparently, other drivers - think the area is off-limits is because the first "permit parking" sign is about two car lengths from the intersection with Stockley Gardens. And there's a stretch of sidewalk that looks something like a driveway.

It's not a driveway and parking isn't restricted, Norfolk says. That is, except for 90 minutes on the first Monday of the month, so street sweepers can do their thing.

Fisher attests - with backup from photographs - that drivers won't park here. I'm going to put the confusion on the city, not on the motorists.

How about clarifying the parking situation, Norfolk?

Those boats in Willoughby Bay are taking on less water, thanks to some enforcement on the heels of a few Warrior columns.

A few weeks ago, The Warrior took a cruise to eyeball sunken and sinking wrecks that are littering Willoughby Bay. Some boaters had grown weary of the lingering eyesores and the danger they present. One small sailboat had been pinballing back and forth across the bay for almost a year. Another vessel, sunken and unmarked, was close enough to the surface that a passing vessel could hit it.

The good: A green sailboat that had been listing since November was removed, presumably by the boat owner, after the city had put on pressure. Reader Jessica DesRoches tells The Warrior the boat was hauled to a marina.

A n abandoned red sailboat off the 800 block of Little Bay Ave. is gone.

In other instances, it's a work in progress. The sunken vessel has been marked; a salvage company will remove it as part of a plea agreement.

The owner of the drifting sailboat, "It's Just a Habit," is set to appear in court on April 21. It's aground in marshland. Notices have been issued for two dilapidated boats in the 700 block of W. Ocean View Ave.

The cabin cruiser that started all of this a few months back, visible from the westbound lanes of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, is still lopsided. Norfolk Deputy City Attorney Cynthia Hall said the city's Harbor Patrol attempted to float the boat in the 1000 block of Little Bay Ave. with no success. She's looking for money to get it out of there.

Before long, we'll have this harbor shipshape.

Watch out!

Downtown Tunnel: A westbound lane will be closed from 8 to 11 p.m. today for maintenance work.