Farmington's Parking Ordinance First Reading

FARMINGTON -- An ordinance to regulate on-street parking was placed on first reading last week by the Farmington City Council and will be used to replace the city's 20-year-old parking ordinance.

The new ordinance is the result of discussions in March after several residents living on Blue Sky Road complained about people parking their vehicles on the street during Farmington High School basketball games at the new Cardinal Arena. At the time, aldermen indicated permanent No Parking signs would be placed on Blue Sky Road but now city officials are leaning toward putting up temporary No Parking signs during events at Cardinal Arena.

The ordinance says the city can prohibit parking at all times on certain streets by posting a No Parking sign on the street.

It also gives the police chief the authority to designate streets or portions of streets as No Parking areas or restrictive parking areas on an as needed basis and gives the police chief the authority to post temporary No Parking signs for special events.

The ordinance prohibits people from using city streets, highways or alleys to park their vehicles for long periods of time. Specifically, a vehicle cannot be left on the street for more than 72 consecutive hours. Cars also cannot be parked on the street for maintenance or repair, except for emergency situations.

Commercial vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers having a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or more cannot be parked or left on a city street, highway or alley. Exceptions to this include a commercial vehicle parked to make a pickup or delivery, a vehicle parked to deliver materials to be used in construction, any passenger bus transporting passengers, a vehicle parked while conducting public business and an authorized emergency vehicle.

A recreational vehicle or non-self-propelled vehicle can only be parked on city streets 24 hours before a recreational trip and 24 hours after a trip for purposes of loading and unloading.

The ordinance prohibits dumpsters and Portable On Demand (PODs) storage units from being placed on city streets, highways or alleys at any time.

A vehicle parked or left in violation of the ordinance can be removed by the city if the vehicle interferes with traffic or creates a hazardous situation and the owner cannot be readily notified or the owner refuses to comply.

A person who violates any provisions of the ordinance will be fined $50 for the first offense. For a second offense within one year, the penalty is $100 and for a third offense in the same year, a person would receive a fine of not more than $500.

Anyone with questions or comments about the proposed ordinance can contact City Hall, 267-3865.

General News on 05/20/2015