Bangor, Maine — A city council committee attempted Wednesday to bolster a proposed ordinance that would ban parking too close to driveways, asking legal counsel to add language that would enable police to tow a vehicle immediately if it is blocking a driveway.
Assistant City Attorney Paul Nicklas told the council’s Government Operations Committee, under current city code, a vehicle can only be towed after it has been ticketed three times.
City officials said the initial parking proposal came to the committee in an attempt to increase safety on city streets.
“The idea is to avoid situations where those parked vehicles are blocking visibility, making maneuverability in and out of driveways difficult and preventing accidents from occurring,” said Assistant City Solicitor Paul Nicklas.
If approved, it would ban parking within 10 feet of the centerline of any driveway citywide.
Thus, if a driveway is 10 feet wide, it would have at least a 5 foot buffer in either direction in which vehicles cannot park.
Nicklas told the committee there have been several complaints about vehicles parking too close within the past two years.
But the committee asked counsel to amend the proposed ordinance after hearing from Derek Mitchell, a member of the city’s Board of Appeals and a resident of French Street.
Mitchell told the committee that parking has been an ongoing issue on French Street since he purchased his home 15 months ago. In large part, he said, that’s due to students from nearby John Bapst Memorial High School parking on the street.
“Particularly as the semester kind of wore on, they got a little more complacent,” he said. “They started showing up a little late and a little desperate for parking.”
Mitchell said it is often difficult to get out of his driveway due to closely parked vehicles, and it’s sometimes impossible. He said the same is true for other homes on the street.
“They’ve immediately incapacitated that homeowner from being able to go about their day-to-day routine,” he said.
While Mitchell has contacted police, he said there is little the officer can do when the driveway is blocked, trapping him in.
“He can’t tow the car even though I can’t get my car out of the driveway,” he said. “He’s going to ticket it, so I walk to work or whatever the case may be.”
Mitchell’s remarks came after Councilor Patricia Blanchette proposed what she called a “softer touch.”
She asked counsel if residents could write down offenders’ tag numbers and have the police department mail letters to violators informing them of the law.
She also proposed arming police with pre-printed notes to place on violator’s vehicles that would inform them without fining them.
“We keep creating ordinances that are unenforceable. That’s what I mean to stop,” she said.
City Solicitor Norm Heitmann said they could talk to Police Chief Mark Hathaway about a letter system, though a witness would need to testify if a ticket were to be written. In most cases, that witness is a police officer, he said.
He also said the primary intent of the proposed ordinance is to make the existing code more clear, so there is no question about what constitutes a violation, making it easier for police to enforce.
State law and city code already ban motorists from blocking driveways, but they give no specific measurements and do not ban parking close to a driveway.
Nicklas said the amended ordinance could go before the council as early as its next meeting on Monday, where it must be read at least twice before a vote. If not Monday, first reading could fall to the council’s March 9 meeting, he said.
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.