To the Editor:
For many residents of Sleepy Hollow Gardens, the recent snow storm likely resulted in a cold, late night walk up poorly lit Meadow Street. Last December, tenants sent letters asking property manager, Andre Clanagan, to reconsider the current parking arrangement after dozens of cars were towed without warning from an adjacent lot on 117 used for overflow parking. Although Samson Management did distribute a survey months after the letters were sent, now nearly a year has passed and they have yet to address the ongoing issue of insufficient parking at the complex.
This is particularly frustrating, as Samson was approved by the Planning Board to build an additional lot on July 23rd of this year. The only reason I know this is because I was in attendance at the meeting; there has been no communication from them alerting residents that they’ve been approved, nor has there been any construction to build these new spaces. I recently emailed Mr. Clanagan, asking why residents haven’t heard anything about parking improvements and his response was that Samson is “waiting on a groundbreaking start date.” In the meantime, residents who are lucky enough to find parking when they return home from work, walk back to their apartments amongst desperate pleas of “Are you leaving?” from neighbors. The unlucky ones park across 119 on Millbrook Avenue and Eunice Court, where we are tolerated at best; homeowners leave out cones, children’s cars, garbage cans and even angry notes to show how they feel about Sleepy Hollow Gardens residents parking in the streets in front of their houses.
Even though there are enough spots to allocate at least one per unit, Samson refuses to initiate a simple system, like labeling the spots according to apartment numbers or using stickers on windshields. The remaining spots are “reserved” and Samson charges an additional 100 dollars per month for said spots. If tenants find that another car is parked in their “reserved” space, there is nothing they can do about it; the local towing company claims that management is the only one authorized to tow cars and we are lucky if they pick up the phone during business hours, let alone late at night. When made aware of management’s inability to provide and monitor parking, Planning Board members were shocked and acknowledged that because of his, Samson is tarnishing our community.
All Sleepy Hollow Gardens residents are asking for is an equitable and safe parking arrangement and honest communication regarding progress in that direction, yet Samson Management continues to be dismissive, negligent and utterly disappointing in this matter.
Anonymous Sleepy Hollow Gardens Resident
