4.a) Staff Report-Parking Issues
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: January 8, 2014
To: City Council
From: Kristina Handt, Administrator
Re: Olinda Trail Parking Issues/Ord No. 43
Background:
At three separate Council meetings in 2011, the Council discussed on-street parking issues in the
Village Center. While the Council had discussed the possibility of having the County post “No
Overnight Parking” signs on Olinda, that option was not pursued as Ms. Rodsjo had written a
provision into the rental lease requiring tenants to find alternative parking during hours of a snow
event so that the County plow trucks can clear the road without having to go around vehicles and
leave large piles of snow that made access to area businesses more unwelcoming the following
day. On September 20, 2011 the Council agreed to postpone asking the County to post signs but
the Mayor stated the discussion could be revisited if it becomes a problem in the future.
On December 10, 2013 the City received a complaint about Olinda Trail not being plowed
completely because a car was parked in front of a business overnight. Deputy Majeski contacted
the landlord and was assured the issue would be addressed. The concern was also passed on to
Washington County Public Works since Olinda Trail is a County Hwy. On December 20, 2013
there was another complaint about the road not being able to be completely plowed due to a
vehicle in the street. I contacted the landlord and left a message but did not hear anything
further. On December 26, 2013, I received another email complaint regarding the plowing as
well as the attached photo. County Engineer Wayne Sandberg was also contacted for possible
solutions again and invited to attend the January work session.
When the Council went on the CIP tour in May, you may remember a resident complaining
about not getting mail because cars park too close to her mailbox on Olinda. If the Council
decides to make updates to the ordinance related to snow removal, staff would also suggest
language to address this problem be included at the same time.
Issue:
How should the parking issues on Olinda Trail be addressed? What other updates are needed to
the ordinance regulating parking in the City?
Proposal Details:
Similar to what was discussed in 2011, the Council may request the County to post “No
Overnight Parking” signs. Staff recognizes the difficulty this may pose for some tenants and
other establishments along Olinda Trail and would therefore offer alternatives to just address the
issue during snow events.
Ordinance No. 43 regulates parking on City roads. The previous City Attorney said that these
regulations do not apply to County roads within the City. The ordinance could be amended to
apply to all streets within the City. A sample of ordinances from Forest Lake, Hugo, Oak Park
Heights and Cottage Grove are included in your packet.
As you can see, most other communities only restrict overnight parking from the months of
November through March. Staff would recommend a similar change be incorporated into
Section 2 of Ordinance No. 43 but only for City streets.
To address the issue of snow removal on all streets, Section 3 of Ordinance No. 43 could be
amended to include all streets in the City. Alternatively, language similar to the Hugo example
could be incorporated as it provides more detailed restrictions (i.e. no parking 2am-7am when
snow accumulation of 2 inches or more until plowed full width of street) and again apply to all
streets in the City.
County staff has provided the Oak Park Height example where the Ma yor is permitted to call a
snow emergency. Staff would not recommend this change as it could be much more
administratively difficult to carry out and inform the residents when there is an issue.
County staff has also offered the option of having the County Board adopt restrictions just for
this location. This would require a request from the City Council in the form of a resolution.
County staff may have more information available on this option at the meeting.
Lastly, to address the issue of cars blocking access to mailboxes, staff would recommend
language similar to that found in the Cottage Grove example which prohibits parking within 15
feet of a mailbox 10am-4pm, Mon-Saturday. Staff would recommend dropping the time
restrictions and just using the days of the week.
Options:
1) Direct Staff to Prepare Updates to Amend Ordinance No. 43
2) Direct Staff to Prepare Resolution Seeking County Board Adoption of Restrictions for
Olinda Trail in the Village Center
3) Request County Post No Overnight Parking signs
4) Make no changes
Recommendation:
Option 1 and ask County to post signs reflecting ordinance restrictions