City alters parking laws again
Less than a month after changing the overnight parking restrictions, the Logan City Council decided to revert back to the old ordinance, with one change.
Prior to last month’s change, no cars were allowed on the streets of Logan from 1 to 5 a.m. from Nov. 15 to the last day of February. After debate about having to ticket cars on the streets during this time period when there was no snow, the council passed a change to allow cars to park on the streets as long as it wasn’t during a snow storm or within the 48 hours afterward. Last night, this amendment was repealed and the ordinance was again changed, saying no cars could be on the streets from 1 to 6 a.m. during the previously set months. This added one hour onto the time cars must be off the roads from the original ordinance.
This change didn’t come without much debate and input from the council, citizens and city employees.
Council members voiced complaints from citizens that the new law was too confusing. They said they felt it was just a step backward in the parking problem in Logan and that a return to the old policy would be the best solution.
“Without exception they said we prefer the simple blanket rule from 1 to 5 a.m.,” said Councilman Herm Olsen, after having talking to 50 people about the issue.
This suggestion was also favored by Tanner Morrell, Logan Parking Authority manager; Jed Al-Imari, Streets and Storm Water Manager; and some of the council members. Students need to be able to park on the streets during the day, said Chris Barney, ASUSU city council liason. There is often no place for visitors to park when at friends’ homes, Barney said, and shortening the hours would help students avoid tickets. Al-Imari said with the growth Logan has seen over the last few years, he would like to see the hours extended to allow the city sufficient time to clear the roads without cars on them.
Alternate ideas were given, such as allowing cars to park on certain sides of the road on assigned days and and allowing cars to park on streets as long as there is no snow on the streets.
After more than 40 minutes of discussing the issue, the council felt it would be best to consider these options in detail before passing either and to not make such a drastic change in the middle of the season as they had previously done.
-alison.baugh@aggiemail.usu.edu