The lawns of homes in the Forest Ridge and Henderson Heights neighborhoods will no longer be marked by parked cars and oil stains.
At the Gainesville City Commission meeting Monday night, commissioners voted unanimously to make it illegal to park on lawns in the neighborhoods, which are located between Northwest 16th Avenue and Northwest 23rd Avenue near 13th Street.
The final vote will be held at the next commission meeting on Feb. 11.
"Frankly, yard parking makes the neighborhood look trashy and undesirable," Melody Marshall, member of the Forest Ridge/Henderson Heights Neighborhood Association Inc., said during the meeting.
The association was not just concerned about the appearance of the neighborhood, Marshall said, but also the effects on the environment.
Residents were concerned that seepage from vehicles parked in yards was leaking into the aquifer, she said.
Carol Daly, a homeowner who rents out property in the neighborhood, spoke against the ordinance during the meeting.
As a landlord, Daly said she did not want to be held responsible for renters of her property who might violate the code.
Rental and owner-occupied homes will be equally affected by the ordinance.
When the neighborhood was built 40 years ago, parking on lawns was not an issue, Marshall said.
But in the last two and a half years it has become a concern, she added.
More than 60 percent of the neighborhood's residents signed a petition in order to advance the ordinance.
Lawn parking has become a bigger problem because homeowners are getting older and moving away to be closer to family or to move into retirement homes, Marshall said.
Instead of selling their homes when they move, aging residents are beginning to rent their properties to people who might not care as much about the appearance of the neighborhood.
The affected area contains 238 homes, of which nine out of 10 are owner occupied.
The ordinance makes the neighborhood part of the residential parking overlay district, which means that no more than 40 percent of each front yard can be devoted to driveways and parking areas.
Parking areas must also be paved or covered with other driveway material, and must be bordered by approved materials.
