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Home My WebLink AboutA001 - Legal Opinion dated March 15, 2001 Memo City Attorney's Office Caring People Qualify Programs Erceplional Service TO: Bob Kindred, Assistant City Manager Terry Bird, Acting Police Chief ,,Sser Mogan, Traffic Engineer Mark Reinig, Economic Development Coordinator FROM: John R. Klaus, City Attorne#K DATE: March 15, 2001 SUBJECT: "Feeding Meters"Regulations,New Ten Hour Meters Parking enforcement personnel have asked the Assistant City Attorney if Sec. 18.29 of the Ames Code should be amended in view of the ten-hour meters that have been installed recently in the downtown area. Section 18.29 prohibits parking at a meter longer than four hours and prohibits depositing money to extend the paid parking time beyond four hours. It is recommended that the regulation be amended to make an exception for the ten-hour meters. See the attached proposed ordinance. A review of the history of the regulation is appropriate. The first prohibition against"feeding the meter" was enacted in 1956. See Exhibit #1 attached. That ordinance was unchanged until 1981 when it was amended to add a prohibition against parking at a metered space longer than the time specified for the space. See Exhibit#2 attached. In 1992 the ordinance was amended to.state a limit of four hours with respect to all metered spaces. See Exhibit#3 attached. It is believed that in 1992 there were no parking meters that provided a period of paid parking greater than four hours. The motivation for the four-hour rule is stated in the 1992 Council Action Form attached as Exhibit#4. In view of the history of the regulation,it seems that the appropriate response to the introduction of ten hour meters is to amend the rule to make an exception for meters that provide a paid period of parking greater than four hours. JRK:gmw Attachments 33-13164 TRAFFIC § 33-13168 Barking space. Meters involved shall be covered only during the times applicable with hoods and appropriate signs read- ing "2 minute unmetered parking" with the times specified thereon, or "No Public Parking" reserved (proprietor's name) trucks, its the case may be, shall be placed and maintained only during the times unmetered parking is applicable. It is the duty of the proprietor to place and remove said hoods and/or signs so that the same are in effect only during such hours as are paid for by the proprietor as above pro- vided. (Ord. No. 843, § 215; Code 1956, § 25-115; Ord. No. 1041, § 1, 9-18-62; Ord. No. 2108, § 1, 12-21-65) Sec. 33-13165. Feeding meters to extend maximum parking time. It is unlawful for any person to deposit or cause to be deposited, an additional coin or coins to extend the park- ing time limit beyond the maximum parking time limit for a I✓meter space. (Ord. No. 843, § 216; Code 1956, § 25-116) Sec. 33-13166. Slugs,substitutes for coins prohibited. It is unlawful for any person to deposit, or cause to be deposited, in any parking meter any slug, device or substi- tute for a coin of the United States of America. (Ord. No. 843, § 217; Code 1956, § 25-117; Ord. No. 974, S 1, 9-20-60) Sec. 33-13167. Supervision of installation, maintenance, repair of meters and zones. The city manager and his authorized representatives have direct supervision of the installation, operation, repair and maintenance of said parking meters and parking meter zones. (Ord. No. 843, § 218; Code 1956, § 25-118; Ord. No. 939, § 1, 5-5-59;Ord. No. 2080, § 1, 7-20-65) Sec. 33-13168. Policing of meters, zones. The chief of police has the direct supervision of the policing of parking meters and parking meter zones. (Ord. No. 843, § 219; Code 1956, § 25-119; Ord. No. 939, § 1, 5-5-59; Ord. No. 2080, § 1, 7-20-65) 1461 2 "Sec. 18. 29. VIOLATIONS OF A MAXIMUM TIME. LIMIT AT A METERED PARKING SPACE, "FEEDING THE METER PROHIBITED . (1) During the hours when a parking space is con- trolled by a parking meter, no person shall park a vehicle in a metered parking space longer than the maximum time limit allowed at that metered parking space, as provided for in section 18.4(2) . (2) No person shall deposit or cause to be deposited, an additional coin or coins to extend the paid for parking displayed on the meter beyond the maximum parking time limit applicable to that metered parking space. " (Ord. No. 843, Sec. 216; Code 1956, Sec. 25-116) Section Three. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in con- flict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict if any. Section Four. Violation of this ordinance shall be a misde- meanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $100.00 or by imprisonment not to exceed thirty (30) days. Section Five. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after June 18 1981 . Passed this 16th day of June 1981 . Gi�iia Bicknese, City—Clerk Mary Athe I ly, Mayor r Tem ORDINANCE NO. 3186 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF AMES, IOWA, BY REPEALING SECTION 18.29 AS IT NOW EXISTS AND RE-ENACTING SECTION 18.29 FOR THE PURPOSE OF ALLOWING VEHICLES TO PARK AT METERED SPACES FOR A MAXIMUM OF FOUR HOURS WHEN COINS ARE DEPOSITED FOR THAT AMOUNT OF TIME; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; ESTABLISHING A PENALTY AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED, by the City Council for the City of Ames, Iowa: Section One. The Municipal Code of the City of Ames, Iowa is hereby amended by repealing Section 18.29 as it now exists and re-en- acting a new Section 18.29 as follows: "Sec. 18.29. VIOLATIONS OF A MAXIMUM TIME LIMIT AT A METERED PARKING SPACE, "FEEDING THE METER" PROHIBITED. (1) During the hours when a parking space is controlled by a parking meter, no person shall park a vehicle in a metered parking space longer than four hours. (2) No person shall deposit or cause to be deposited, an additional coin or coins to extend the paid for parking displayed on the meter beyond four hours." Section Two. Violation of the provisions of this ordinance shall constitute a simple misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $100 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Section Three. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith shall be repealed to the extent of such conflict if any. Section Four. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and publication as required by law. Passed this llth day of August 1992. Jill L. Riooe r, tina City Clerk Larry R. ur is, Mayo T J COUNCIL ACTION FORM r Item # Zz Date: July 1 , 1992 SUBJECT: Changing the "Feeding the Meter" Ordinance No. 18.29. BACKGROUND: George Lawson, Library Director, has requested that the Parking Ordi- nance Section No. 18.29 be exempted for parking meters on Douglas Ave- nue from 5th to 6th Street. This code requirement stipulates that no operator of a vehicle shall permit a vehicle to remain in a metered space longer than the maximum time allowed of 1 hour. It pertains to the "feed- ing" of the meter and was designed to discourage motorists from remaining in the metered space for extended periods (e.g. 3 to 8 hours). By ex- empting this restriction, these meters can be legally used by library and other user's that have short term visits longer than one hour. In the process of evaluating this ordinance, staff has proposed to the Campustown and Downtown Betterment Association a change to the ordi- nance which would allow vehicles to be parked in a metered space in the Downtown and Campustown areas for up to four hours. This was present- ed to the associations on July 7th and 8th for information and comment. Both groups had no problem with the change. Currently, the City regula- tions require that a vehicle can be parked at a metered space up to the time duration of the meter. For example, where the meters have a two hour duration along most of 5th and Main Street, vehicles can be legally parked in these spaces for up to two hours. It is believed that in some cases this doesn't allow patrons enough time to shop in the business areas. By changing this ordinance, these patrons will be given additional time to do business as long as additional time is purchased. The attached meter map shows the areas where meters with two hour durations are located. The City has received numerous complaints about this ordinance when it is enforced. These complaints are received from user's that have paid for the time at the meter, though weren't aware of the time restriction. Currently no signage is posted for this type of illegal parking due to the complexity and the possible confusion with the sign's message. Over the past years this ordinance has been lightly enforced since it's been a very inefficient method of regulating long-term parking. In order for this ordinance to be enforced, personnel must mark tires and return to check parked vehicles at timed intervals, making it very time consuming. For the time expended, it's more effective to have personnel check and write tickets for unexpired meters at regular intervals, to combat the problem. With the current level of enforcement, there's a high probability that long-term users who frequently park for extended periods will get tickets for parking in metered spaces that have expired. (All day usage of the parking meters requires plugging them up to six times per day. ) CAF - Feed Meter Ordinance July 14, 1992 Page 2 The ordinance was established because of concerns about long-term usage of the metered spaces. With the current enforcement practice, 2 0 of the two-hour metered spaces are occupied by vehicles that have been parked longer than four hours, according to a 1991 study. During this study period, the "feeding meter" ordinance has been lightly enforced. In the past six months, there have been 66 tickets issued for "feeding meters". This accounts for less than 10 of the tickets issued for illegal parking. ALTERNATIVES 1. Change the "Feeding the Meter" Ordinance No. 18.29 to allow vehicles to be park in all metered stalls in Campustown and Downtown areas for up to 4 hours, and pass the ordinance on the first reading. 3. Only change the ordinance to allow vehicles to be parked up to 4 hours in the metered spaces on Douglas from 5th to 6th Street in front of the Library. 4. Do nothing. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION: It is recommended by the City Manager that the City Council adopt alter- native number 1, thereby changing the "Feeding the Meter" Ordinance No. 18.29 to allow vehicles to be park in all metered stalls in Campustown and Downtown areas for up to 4 hours, and pass the ordinance on the first reading. COUNCIL ACTION: SL:Rev3