No Parking
Norris council votes to limit parking on some city streets to help emergency vehicles
To help maintain traffic flow and give emergency vehicles ready access to residences, the Norris City Council last week gave preliminary approval to a measure that would limit or prohibit parking on most city streets.
In a special meeting Tuesday (Oct. 24), the council voted unanimously to pass on first reading Ordinance 662, which would amend the Norris Municipal Code to prohibit parking “On all city streets except Hickory Trail and Chestnut Drive.”
The proposed ordinance says “current parking regulations do not adequately address the safety needs of the community; and … the Norris City Council wishes to prohibit street parking on certain roadways to allow for clearer, safer, and more easily traversable streets.”
There are some narrow exceptions, according to the ordinance as now written:
“This prohibition shall not apply to drivers of delivery vehicles when actively making deliveries and off-street parking is unavailable, provided that such parking is not in violation of any other part of this code and so long as the parked delivery vehicle has flashing lights, is visible from a distance of 200 feet in each direction, and maintains at least 12 feet of clearance in the roadway.
“Nor shall this prohibition apply to emergency services, city employees acting in their official duties, or anyone performing official duties on behalf of the city.”
Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited presented the ordinance to the council, and detailed how city staff and police had been measuring clearances on streets where people have routinely been parking, and noted that in many cases parked vehicles were leaving less than 12 feet open – which is the minimum required for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles.
On-street parking already is prohibited on busy through streets such as East and West Norris roads, Reservoir Road and Dairy Pond Road. But even that restriction is sometimes ignored.
Last week, a pickup truck with a long equipment trailer was parked for more than 24 hours on Dairy Pond, blocking the eastbound lane, and forcing drivers to move into the oncoming-traffic lane – on the approach to a hill – to get around it. Although the driver had put some orange cones around the rig, there was no one there to direct traffic around it.
The proposed ordinance might face some opposition, however.
Butternut Road resident George Miceli told the council that he believes there should be an exemption for people parking cars on the road when someone is having a party. Councilman Will Grinder suggested that the proposed ordinance be amended to allow some exceptions, but he found no support for that among the rest of the council members.
There will be a public hearing on the parking ordinance at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13, just prior to the regular November council meeting at 6 p.m., when the council is expected to give final approval to the measure on second reading.
