Brainerd City Council: Changes considered to winter parking regulations

A plan to revise how the city of Brainerd handles parking on city streets during winter snow removal stalled Monday night.

A motion to hold the final reading of ordinance 1462 to amend City Code 1315 pertaining to street cleaning and snow removal failed on a 2-5 vote, with council members Kelly Bevans and Jan Lambert supporting the motion.

The council held a public hearing on the ordinance prior to taking action on the final reading. A few people took the opportunity to speak in opposition to the ordinance.

One piece of the issue the ordinance does not address is how it affects renters without access to off-street parking, Rick Fargo said. They have nowhere to move their vehicles when parking would be prohibited on city streets for snow removal, he said. He suggested the city notify residents when certain streets will be plowed, so residents know when they need to move their vehicles.

Jim Runberg lives on Lakeview Lane and he and his wife own eight rental properties in Brainerd, he said. His tenants, by design, are elderly, he said, and some are handicapped. It would be a hardship for them to go out and move their vehicles in the winter, he said. A solution might be to plow streets running north-south and east-west on different days.

"I would hope that you can take that into consideration," Runberg said.

Mike Higgins, owner of the Brainerd Industrial Center, said ordinance 1462 is a slippery slope. It's hard to put rules and regulations into an old town, he said.

"I understand plowing snow around vehicles," Higgins said. "But on the other hand, I think we need to look at what our town really is and what we can do to promote it."

Code changes

If enacted, the ordinance would have amended the portion of City Code 1315 outlining plowing during snow emergencies. City engineer Jeff Hulsether has previously said a snow emergency hasn't been called for three years. The changes would have gone into effect on Nov. 1.

The ordinance would have removed the paragraph on snow emergencies from the code and replaced it with a paragraph on snow removal parking regulations. In the event of snowfall requiring snow removal from city streets, the city engineer would declare a snow plowing parking restriction. Under this restriction, there would be no parking on all city streets, except within downtown Brainerd, between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. or until the streets have been plowed to full width.

The ordinance would have included a paragraph on snow removal parking restrictions in the downtown Brainerd special services district. During snow removal in downtown Brained, there would have been no parking allowed on city streets from 3-9 a.m. or until the snow had been removed from the streets and sidewalks.

The ordinance would have also included a paragraph on snowfall of more than 4 inches. When this occurs, vehicles that are plowed around would be ticketed. Those vehicles ticketed and not moved within 48 hours would be towed at the owner's expense.

Council comments

The public hearing generated good comments about working with citizens on snow removal, said council member Kelly Bevans. It would be nice to accommodate everyone's concerns all the time, he said, but it simply can't happen.

"Anytime you're dealing with people, there's going to have to be some give and take," Bevans said.

The plow drivers who plow the roads and the police officers who ticket vehicles are people, too, Bevans said. They need guidelines to follow to do their jobs, he said.

"I think this is a good step," Bevans said. "Otherwise, you're going to turn it loose and it's going to be a free-for-all."

It would be good to communicate with residents and let them know when and where the city is going to plow the streets, council member Kevin Stunek said.

Council member Gabe Johnson voted against the final reading of the ordinance and suggested finding a better way to amend City Code 1315. If the ordinance were to be adopted, he said, the council may not revisit it until after it takes effect next winter.

With more than 50 percent of Brainerd residents living in rental housing, many don't have access to off-street parking, council member Sue Hilgart said. She suggested looking into plowing north-south or east-west streets on different days, or only allowing people to park on one side of the street on certain days.

"I think we do need to give it one more pass before next winter," Hilgart said. "To see if we can alleviate some burden on our residents."

Council President Dave Pritschet said the ordinance as presented addresses some issues of snow plowing but leaves some issues unaddressed. He'd like to see the issue return to the safety and public works committee, he said, in order to try to find solutions for those without an off-street parking option.

"I'm not against the idea of this in any way, shape or form," Pritschet said. "But I think it can be improved."