By Ben Orcutt -- Daily Staff Writer

FRONT ROYAL — A town physician has a parking space in front of her office again, but she's still not completely satisfied.

Dr. Nirmal Kanal lost parking in front of her office at 1096 N. Shenandoah Ave. after an island was constructed as part of a streetscape project initiated by Warren Memorial Hospital.

Kanal, 62, has been practicing ophthalmology for 15 years at the Shenandoah Avenue location and appeared before the Town Council to have at least one parking space in front of her office reinstated.

Pam Mahoney, Kanal's office manager, said Thursday that the hospital's parent company, Valley Health, reinstated a parking space in front of the office last week, but it's only 18 feet long. Mahoney said she measured it twice.

"It's not very obvious, either," Mahoney said.

Dave Siegfried, landscape manager for Valley Health, confirmed that a work crew reinstated the parking space in front of Kanal's office.

"That spot is adequate for a vehicle," Siegfried said. "It's 20 feet."

Kanal said it appears that Valley Health gave her a small parking space begrudgingly.

"They spent the money to do this the second time around," Kanal said. "They could have done this a little bit longer."

Kanal said she approached the work crew that was cutting the parking space out and asked them if they could make it bigger. She said she was told they were just the sub-contractor and had no say in the length of the space.

Mahoney said more than 300 people had signed a petition for the parking to be restored in front of the office when she stopped collecting signatures last week.

A majority of the Town Council polled last month agreed that Kanal should have parking reinstated in front of her office. Kanal has said that having parking space in front of the office is especially convenient for elderly patients and for patients who are making a quick stop.

Kanal lost her on-street parking when Warren Memorial Hospital, located across the street from her office, initiated a streetscape project, which extends along Shenandoah Avenue from West 11th Street to Ninth Street.

Kanal has said that she did not receive written notification from the town about the project, and that she did not read about it in local newspapers prior to the Town Council's endorsement of the effort.

"It's almost if they [Valley Health] have done it to prove a point that they gave [me] a space," Kanal said. "It looks uglier than before."

Kanal also noted that the reinstated parking space abuts an adjacent private driveway. The parking space can accommodate small vehicles, she said, adding that it could be difficult to get a large vehicle in the spot.

Although she remains baffled and somewhat frustrated by what has occurred, Kanal said she does not plan to continue to fight for a larger space.

"I don't understand the purpose of it," she said. "If you cut it, you can make it a little longer and have the person be comfortable, but that's not what they did."

* Contact Ben Orcutt at borcutt@nvdaily.com