As part of a move to increase security, parking meters will be removed from directly in front of the Carroll County Courthouse Annex this week, and Westminster city workers plan to remove a stand of pine trees behind the building.

Parking also will be eliminated on a one-way alley beside the annex, except one spot for a county maintenance vehicle, said Thomas B. Beyard, Westminster's director of planning and public works.

"Security was the over-riding issue for these changes," he said. "The first thing was to remove the meters directly in front of the courthouse."

Signs prohibiting stopping or standing will be installed. Cars will be towed during business hours.

The alley will have a "No Parking, Stopping or Standing" sign and will be designated as a tow-away zone.

The pine trees between the rear of the annex and an unmetered parking lot, "were going to come down anyway," said Beyard. The Westminster Common Council approved the changes on March 8.

Pub Date: 3/22/99