As a tenant at Abbey Court, I appreciate the stories you have published about tenant-management conflicts in my neighborhood. However, the headline of your most recent story (“Abbey Court ownership says towing policy eased,†July 31, 2008) is somewhat misleading: It is not the towing policy that Mr. Ken Lucas claims to have relaxed, but rather the parking permit policy. Mr. Lucas has made no statements suggesting a change in the aggressive towing of residents’ cars, and in fact cars have continued to be towed in the last two days since he announced the relaxed permit requirements.
By refusing to issue parking permits to residents and then towing those residents’ cars, the managers of Abbey Court have enraged many, many tenants. White, Latino, African-American, and Asian-American neighbors have come together in raising their voices and organizing themselves to denounce the managers.
Tenants have now created a website, www.abbeycourt.info, which is closely following the towing controversy. The site has also posted pictures showing the poor conditions in some of apartments and the ongoing problems we have with crime, uncollected garbage, and bug infestation.
The Abbey Court community, which tends on the whole to have darker skin, to speak little English, and to be unaware of the laws, has been abused in many ways by the managers. The towing of cars was just the last straw. Promises of relaxing parking permit policies may be too little too late to ease the ill will that managers have inspired over the years.
Hugo Olaiz
Carrboro
All you have to do is park according to the rules of the apartment complex and you will not be towed. Why is this so difficult??
Geez!