Montpelier Winter Parking: Cities With Automatic Bans Based on Snowfall

Monday, September 17, 2007

Cities With Automatic Bans Based on Snowfall

Here are some other cities that also have snow parking bans:

Evanston, IL has an ordinance that goes into effect when 2" of snow falls. This applies only to arterial roads; the side streets have a separate (declared) ban that is most often called when there is 4"+ of snow. They also use an alert system via media, hotline, email, etc. Here's some info about their process:

http://www.cityofevanston.org/departments/parking/snow.shtml

Portsmouth NH has a similar system, also with 2" of snow required for a ban, but it applies to all city streets equally. Here's some info about their ban system.

http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/publicworks/snowbanparkinglots.htm
http://archive.seacoastonline.com/news/01132007/nhnews-ph-por-parking.html

Colchester, CT - http://www.colchesterct.net/Snow%20Parking%20Ban.doc
Colchester's ordinance goes into effect automatically, when 1/2 inch of snow falls and ending 12 hours after the snow stops.

Here's their Ordinance: "There shall be a parking ban in effect on town roads after 1/2 in. of snow has accumulated. Said parking ban shall continue in effect for 12 hours after the cessation of the snowfall. If any vehicles are parked on town roads, in violation of this ordinance, the owners of said vehicles shall forfeit and pay for the use of the Town of Colchester a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) to be recovered by an action on this ordinance brought in the name of the Treasurer of the Town. In addition, any vehicles parked on town roads in violation of this ordinance may be towed away by the TOWN OF COLCHESTER at the vehicle owner's expense."

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About This Site

Currently, Montpelier, VT has a WINTER OVERNIGHT PARKING BAN. No overnight parking from Nov 15 through Apr 1, regardless of weather.

There is interest in changing to a SNOW PARKING BAN system to prohibit parking only when snowing or a strong forecast of snow.

Several other cities have snow-based parking bans, in Vermont and beyond. This website provides information on their processes and ordinances for discussion, and provides a forum for developing a new ordinance for Montpelier.

Please feel free to add your thoughts in the Comments section after each post!

Why switch to a snow parking ban?

A snow parking ban would still get cars off the street when truly needed.
Allowing year round on-street parking allows city lots to be unpaved and available for gardens or green space.
Increased green space reduces stormwater runoff, filters pollutants from stormwater, and decreases the likelihood of flooding due to rainstorms.
Many families have one-lane driveways where one car must be parked behind the other. The overnight parking ban leads to car shuffle games, and extra pollution from starting cold engines.
Some small city lots do not have enough parking spaces, so that people end up parking on their lawns. It's better to park on the lawn a few times a winter (when snowing), than all winter.
Lack of parking spaces may prevent the addition of accessory apartments, which the City encourages.

Becka's philosophy on street parking

In dense city neighborhoods, residents should not have to use their small lots for parking -- gardens and green space are important to the livability of the community. Some on-street parking is also good, because it slows drivers down, particularly in residential neighborhoods.

However, I generally believe that streets should be used for transportation. Bike lanes and bus stops are better uses of our public right of ways than parking. Outside of the downtown area, the city should consider allowing parking only on one side of the street in order to provide space for bicycle lanes. This is particularly true on arterial streets such as Elm Street, Main Street, Barre Street, and State Street -- and may be a good policy for neighborhood streets as well.

In the downtown area, parking on streets should be permitted as it is vital to the downtown businesses. However, downtown employees should not use the metered parking which is provided for the benefit of shoppers and others who are doing short-term business in the city. Ideally, downtown businesses would also use private parking lots for short-term parking, instead of employee parking. I would like to see better enforcement of 2-hour parking limit (regardless of meter feeding) along with promotional and incentive programs to encourage employees to walk, bike, or take transit to work -- or to park outside of downtown.

Becka Roolf is a transportation consultant focusing on walking, bicycling, and other "green" transportation. http://www.goinggreenvt.com

Montpelier Winter Parking