Officials can’t agree on problem or solution for overnight parking

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

The City of Burlington Common Council couldn’t even agree to disagree Sept. 17 – at least on the topic of overnight parking.

After more than an hour’s worth of debate over the subject in the Committee of the Whole meeting of what to do with the city’s overnight parking ordinance – during which more grief was shared than any consensus reached – Mayor Bob Miller asked for a show of hands on the three options that had been brought forward to them.

That informal show of hands – with three or four in favor of keeping overnight parking as is with better enforcement – has city staff going back to the police in hopes of getting a better understanding of the issue for everyone involved.

“We could sit here the rest of the night,” said Miller. “But what this body needs to do is come up with the best solution.”

The problem for the city – and for the aldermen Tuesday night – was that the overnight parking isn’t a one-size-fits-all problem. Some aldermen argued that older sections of the city don’t have properties with enough driveway space to accommodate more than two cars.

Still others pointed out that the majority of the issues seem to take place where there are apartments – and where those residents do not want to, for whatever reason, use their designated parking spots.

And taking the questions further, issues of performing city street work – whether it be leaf collection, snow plowing or street sweeping – in what many are terming a “parking lot” in places have been raised.

What remains at the heart of the issue is that, while switching to the alternate-side parking (by address numbers) for overnight parking may have solved most of the city’s issues, it doesn’t work for the entire city.

As such, the City Council couldn’t seem to find a common ground to work from Tuesday night. While a majority of the aldermen felt sticking with the current rules would be best, Alderman Peter Hintz wanted option two – no parking on any city street from 2-6 a.m. except with permission.

And Alderman Ed Johnson – who lives on a street affected by apartment parking issues – wanted option three, which would modify the current ordinance specific to two streets affected by apartment parking: Chapel Terrace and Meadow Lane.

A host of residents from the area of those two streets showed up at Tuesday’s meeting, complaining that, since the apartment side of both streets was marked “no parking,” the opposite side of the street turned into a grid of apartment residents’ cars.

Part of the issue, residents said, is lack of enforcement of an ordinance that states no car can remain in the same spot for more than 24 hours. City Police Chief Peter Nimmer said his officers can step up enforcement – but only if they can identify cars that are there more than 24 hours.

Meadow Lane resident John Ekes then flat-out asked if it was his responsibility to let police know. When one alderman answered yes, Ekes said, “Then I can go down the street and do it every night.”

While some residents wanted to clear up the Meadow Lane and Chapel Terrace issue, Alderman Hintz simply said parking for residents was not the city’s problem.

That drew some cynical laughs from those in the crowd, and Alderman Jon Schultz said, “It is absolutely the city’s problem.”

Near the end of the discussion, Schultz did add that the problem is too complex to be covered by one ordinance, and suggested looking at separate rules to govern the apartment complexes.