Ordinance to restrict parking in winter months

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

The cold weather of fall has come to central Minnesota and with it, the eventual promise of snow and ice. 

The City of New York Mills has recently adopted a new ordinance to keep the streets safe and clear while providing an option for those who require street parking.

Ordinance 139 lays out the new regulations on street parking from October 1 to April 1 of each year. The ordinance states that street parking permissions alternate between odd-days on odd sides of the street (referring to house numbers) and even-days on even sides of the street between the hours of 1-7 a.m.

For example, if a person lives at 123 Mills Street, parking would be allowed on that side of the street each day that ends in an odd number. All other days, those which end in an even number, parking would only be allowed on the opposite side of the street at 124 Mills Street.

The days in which the ordinance alternates between starts at midnight and regulates parking between 1-7 a.m. during the even- or odd-day. This means that if someone is parking their vehicle for the night and it’s an odd-day, they need to park on the even side of the street in preparation for the even-day that starts at midnight.

“The purpose of the ordinance is to make snow removal easier and decrease the liability of and the potential of the blade hitting parked cars and also burying cars,” said city clerk Julie Roberts. “They have no choice, but to plow around them and then it makes quite a challenge for the person to get the car out of the parking space. All it takes is one chunk of ice to push the blade and damage a vehicle.”

The NY Mills Police Department is distributing reminders on windshields for the month of October to get everyone ready for when the snow flies this winter. Although it has not fallen in NY Mills yet this fall, it is good practice to get into the habit of alternating sides of the street when parking this fall.

After November 1, members of the NY Mills Police Department will start issuing warnings to those who haven’t gotten on board with the ordinance. Towards December and partially dependent upon when the first snow reaches this area, the police department will start issuing citations for those who don’t comply with the parking ordinance.

“It will really help a lot with keeping our streets clear of snow and ice chunks and things like that which develop when you’re going around cars,” said Roberts. “We know some places do not have parking that isn’t on the street, so this is basically asking those people who have to park on the street, those are the ones it affects the most, just to be cognizant of what day it is and to get your vehicle on the appropriate side of the street so the snow removal is easier and a little less dangerous.”

Roberts said that the ordinance was first considered late last winter as the public works crew was having persistent problems with plowing around cars parked in the street. The city council looked around at several city ordinances in the area and considered what would work best in NY Mills. The calendar street parking seemed to fit the needs of the community the best and the Council voted and approved the ordinance this past August.

Also written into the ordinance is the ability of the police department to impound, tow vehicles from their locations on the street, and fine their owners if they are found in violation of the ordinance.

These options were added into the ordinance for those extreme situations that might arise in the months under the ordinance’s authority. Roberts said that the city and the police department are looking to work with everybody so that the community is educated about the ordinance and to avoid the more extreme measures this winter.

Signs near the edges of town were installed by the public works crew and layout the basics of the calendar parking rules to everyone. Through the budgeting process, Roberts is hopeful to have additional signs added to the city to further educate and remind residents of the new ordinance. 

For further questions about the ordinance contact the city office at (218) 385-2213.