01-14-2004 Council Workshop Agenda

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local news channels and the weather service do their best to predict the magnitude of a winter storm. However, they are not always that accurate and our residents have to guess, in advance, what the snow depth will be to determine if they will leave their vehicle parked on the street, especially over night. If they guess wrong they either get a ticket or they get a ticket and their vehicle is towed. The Sheriff's Department also has to determine when the snow depth is 2" so they can start to enforce our winter parking restrictions. This is not as easy as it may seem, as it does not always snow the same at all locations in our city. Therefore, we could have 2" of snow in one portion of the city and less than that in another. In addition to this, our winter parking restriction states: "Any person violating this portion of the Municipal Code shall be subjected to ticketing and towing by the Ramsey County Sheriffs Department ". Does that mean they get a ticket and their vehicle is towed every time, or does the deputy have discretion to determine when to just issue a ticket or issue a ticket and have the vehicle towed. As stated earlier, the most impact on our efficiency to remove snow from our streets is vehicles parked on our streets while we are removing snow from our streets. This has been addressed by other cities in Ramsey County by imposing a no- parking restriction on all city streets from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. (refer to attached Winter Parking Restriction Survey). Since most of our snow removal activities occur during this restriction time frame, it would greatly improve our efficiency. In addition, it would be easier for the Sheriff s• Department to enforce this restriction, as they will not have to determine when and where we have 2" of snow during this time frame. However, the issue of when to just tag or tag and tow is not resolved. To clarify this further, staff would recommend that they only tag a vehicle parked overnight during non - snowfall events and tag and tow vehicles if it snows. This would provide the most flexibility for city crews to address any snow concerns on city streets during this time frame. Some cities impose their no- parking restriction all year round and others only during the possible snow months (November is' to April ls`). There are advantages and disadvantages to both time frames with the obvious being less impact on the resident if it is only imposed during the snow months. Staff recommends only imposing a winter parking restriction form November is' to April 151. This would require signage to be placed at the main entrances to our city and possibly at main intersections to remind everyone. In addition, the Sheriff's Department feels that a more permanent solution is the November 151 to April I5` overnight parking ban as it educates the public and minimizes questions of when there are 2" of snow. Based on the above, staff reconunends that the Council authorize staff to initiate appropriate steps that would result in modification of the Municipal Code and Snowplowing Policy to include winter parking restrictions as follows: After a two (2) inch snowfall, there will be no parking on any City street until it is plowed to its full width. Any owner of a vehicle violating this portion of our Municipal Code shall be ticketed and the vehicle shall be towed by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department. A winter parking restriction be imposed from November 1st to April is` between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. During non - snowfall events, any owner of a vehicle violating this portion of our Municipal Code shall be ticketed. During any snowfall events any owner of a vehicle violating this portion of our Municipal Code shall be ticketed and the vehicle shall be towed by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department. H;AGregS \Snow Plowing \Winter Parking Restrietions.doc