Published: June 17, 2008 11:32 pm         

Commissioners parking vehicle plan in neutral for more study

City commissioners Tuesday heard a proposal that could limit the number of cars that can be parked at a house based on the size of the lot.

Planning Administrator Chris Bauer, speaking at the city commission study session, detailed the proposal. City officials have been discussing changes to the parking ordinance as they continue to push cleanup efforts and decide how to deal with people parking on their yards.

Bauer’s solution to the parking problem would be established based on lot size, availability of an alley and amount of hard surface on a lot. For example, he said, residents with a lot 50 feet by 150 feet with no alley access would be limited to three vehicles. If an alley is available, he said, a hard pad could be put in the backyard for vehicle parking.

Vehicles would not be allowed on the grass in the backyard, he said. Those vehicles could be whatever a resident wants them to be: cars, recreational vehicles or others allowed.

As another part of his proposed solution, residents in most areas would be allowed to park on the street in front of their house.

Commissioners asked City Attorney Carol Lahman to work with Bauer and craft a proposal for them to study at a future meeting.

Bauer also discussed a way to make it easier for residents to build a driveway. He said a number of people have told him they cannot afford to pave a driveway with concrete or asphalt, as the current ordinance requires. He suggested commissioners allow driveways to be paved with gravel, unless they previously had been done with asphalt or concrete.

Bauer spent a lot of time during the study session discussing the parking configurations and what ordinances currently allow. He showed slides of residences that did not comply with the ordinance but had a nice appearance and showed an effort by the owner to make the residence look nice.

“The number of vehicles is not the issue, but where they are placed on the property,” Bauer said.

Ordinances currently allow vehicles parked at a residence to be any type of vehicle, including recreational vehicles. The recreational vehicle definition includes manufactured or hand-made trailers.