- Independence Police will consider ways to shore up the city’s parking regulations and enforcement
- The parking concerns were first brought to the city by a resident who had observed problems in his neighborhood
- The police chief thought the regulations’ definitions could be clean up and made more consistent, as a starting point
Independence Police Chief Brian Ferayroni and his department will furnish initial recommendations on amending the city’s parking regulations, especially as it relates to consistency and definitions within the city’s laws. The move came as a response to a resident, Dan Burgey, bringing his concerns about enforcement to the city late last year.
Burgey is a volunteer with the Independence Citizens’ Police Academy alumni association and a member of the homeowners association maintenance committee in Independence’s Manor Hill neighborhood. He told the City Council in November that he’d observed issues on city-owned streets in his neighborhood, which he argued met the city’s legal definition of a nuisance and which the HOA has no jurisdiction over.
Specifically, Burgey asked the council to amend the part of the city’s parking ordinance that states “it shall be unlawful for anyone to park in any one place any vehicle on any of the public ways or streets of the city for a period of seventy-two (72) hours or longer” by striking the “in any one place” phrasing, which he believed was too difficult to enforce.
Burgey also attended the meeting on Monday, where the issue was discussed again. Mayor Chris Reinersman pitched different avenues for shoring up regulations of parking. The council could form a special committee to recommend changes, or the police could consider the current ordinances and make recommendations based on their knowledge of the issue.
Reinersman recommended starting with the police.
“Why don’t we start there?” Reinersman told the chief. “And if it ends up we have a list of several things that need full council input, rather than a couple of couple of them” then the council could revisit the issue on the floor.
Ferayorni said he had looked at the city’s existing parking regulations and had found some inconsistencies.
“There’s a definition of abandoned vehicle a little later in the ordinances, but then some of these other ordinances kind of contradict that and tell you abandoned is anything over 72 hours,” Feryaorni said. “So, I think we should reevaluate some things and basically take a lot of these parking ordinances and do some revamp work to them, especially when it comes to definitions.”
No formal action was taken at the meeting, and the City Council will likely revisit the issue in the coming months.