MONTAGUE — City council discussed various options for providing more parking downtown at Monday’s meeting. Before voting to make any official changes, council and city manager Jeff Auch are working to reword ordinance 308. The council felt the ordinance’s language was contradictory and confusing and it believes clarification is necessary before adding additional parking.
Currently, the hours and where people can park downtown are unclear. The council is considering restricting parking downtown between the hours of 2 and 7 a.m., common among other towns and cities. Some council members thought of only enforcing this during winter months, but others felt seasonal enforcement would be too confusing to the public.
A primary concern is the parking on Sheridan Street, as many residents do not have driveways and therefore have to park in the street. The Department of Public Works voiced concern in regards to this. Especially in the winter, the need for snowplows creates the possibility of accidentally damaging cars parked in the street overnight.
“Am I liable if the wing drags down the side of a car?” Montague Department of Public Works superintendent Scott Beishuizen said. “Then the city’s in jeopardy because they have to pay for this. I think Jeff did a really good job on this and it’s in the winter months, that’s the main concern to address it.”
Contradicting the thoughts of applying the restriction of overnight parking hours year round, some council members voiced concerns regarding the social district anticipated to launch this year. Members do not want participants who have had too much to drink to feel pressured to drive home because of possibly getting a ticket from leaving their car downtown overnight.
Auch and the council said they will continue to make changes and discuss this ordinance until a consensus is reached.
