As we continue to discuss the safety of our Parish Family, I wanted to broach a very tough subject. Our campus parking and traffic situation continues to be a major concern for each and every one of us. We have recently undergone some updates and enhancements to attempt to make it as safe as possible. You may notice the bright yellow parking stops that were painted this past week. We have specified fire lanes and no-parking locations with Collier County-approved signage and lining. These steps have been taken to keep you and our entire Parish Family safe. However, there is a small group of people that are disregarding these essential safety steps, endangering our Parish. In this year of Patience and Flexibility, it is important that we all work together to create the loving and embracing church we are supposed to represent to the world. That starts right here on the campus.
There is a very specific reason that we have created fire lanes on our campus. If someone has a heart attack in our church, we need to ensure the emergency responders and their vehicles can reach that person as quickly as possible. When someone parks in a fire lane, or where there are “No Parking” signs, they could delay the EMTs, police, and/or firemen from reaching that person. Please ensure you choose a properly marked parking space when you arrive on campus. I understand that may mean you will have to park further away from the church, in one of our central or even back lot spots. It may not be the most convenient to have to park in those more distant locations, but that additional walk could save someone’s life.
I understand that some Parish Family members’ frustration with leaving Mass may be influencing their attempts to park in these illegal locations. Even without the closure of Vanderbilt, cutting off a Northbound throughway for many of us, it was difficult to quickly leave our campus after Mass. With that road completely blocked, the light situation on 41, especially turning to go North, is unacceptable. I have spoken to the Collier County Traffic Operations department and they sent a Traffic Manager to evaluate the light timing this past weekend. I am hopeful that there will some very short term relief, increasing the timing of that light for our egress. That will clear out the traffic on 111th Avenue North much faster, and help us all move on with the rest of our day.
This brings me to my last point: Catholic Patience. “Patience is the companion of wisdom” is the quotation from Saint Augustine emphasizing our need as Catholics to illustrate and live in a patient and respectful way. I even went so far as to coin this year as the Year of Patience and Flexibility. However, there is a small group of our Parish Family or visitors that has shown anything but patience. They have allowed their frustration to bubble over, even immediately after experiencing the joy and mercy of the Eucharist and Mass. There is never a reason we should be rude to each other in our parking lots, or disrespecting each others’ private property. Touching another person’s vehicle, even if they have parked in a handicapped spot without approved license plates or placards is not necessary. And it was truly one of my most embarrassing moments as General Manager of our Church to have to apologize to our brave police officers that attempt to support our traffic exits. They have told me on 4 separate occasions this year that individuals screamed obscenities at them and even “flipped the bird” at them as they drove out of our campus. There is no excuse for this behavior.
So, in an attempt to productively and positively implement a safe and joyous environment in our parking lots, I am authorizing our staff to place this Parish Mission message on the windshields of the cars illegally parked on our campus for the next two weekends. This will be a communication directly to those individuals, ensuring they understand that when parked in “No Parking” and “Fire Lane” locations, Collier County does believe it to be illegal, and could be called onto our campus to provide tickets. I am hopeful that with several weeks of this “gentle” communication, we will not have to take further action to protect and safeguard our Parish Family, including involving Parking Enforcement.
I thank all of you, who are in the vast majority, who understand this safety concern, and who do park in the proper locations and ensure we can all enjoy the love, mercy, and happiness that is the heart of our Catholic Faith.