Washington police remind public of snow parking rules

WASHINGTON — As the season’s first snow hits the ground, Washington police are reminding city residents of the local ordinance on street parking during such weather.

“Now is a good time to plan for off-street parking options during snow events,” a post on the Washington Police Department’s Facebook page said on Nov. 25. “The purpose of Washington’s snow emergency ordinance is to limit on-street parking during snow events and any declared snow emergency to give plows access to clear the entire street.”

Changes in the code enacted last year raised the fee for leaving a parked car on snowy streets to $50. The reform also removed requirements that the mayor declare a “snow emergency” to issue tickets, instead automatically triggering a similar declaration to get cars off the streets amid winter weather.

While that adjustment was criticized at the time of its passage for putting downtown residents at a disadvantage, Police Chief Jim Lester said people had time to figure out backup parking places.

“Our goal isn’t to write tickets, our goal is to get the cars out of the way so they can clean the streets,” he said at a city council meeting in September of last year. “If they’re not clean, we’re going to deal with the accidents that happen as a result … Last year, an officer grabbed the keys from an elderly lady and moved her car for her because she was sick, and couldn’t come down and move it and gave us permission to drive it down the street and out of the way.”

City ordinance states that “no vehicle” can stay “parked, abandoned, or unattended on any street or alley in the city” during snow removal operations. Municipal police generally wait 24 hours to give a ticket, according to Lester.

The local law makes exceptions for street parking along the square during normal business hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. and “during normal weekend, evening, or holiday hours.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com