Two of three Public Comments at city council’s Nov. 14 meeting admonished changes made to an ordinance establishing a parking district on Spring Street that was created by the Planning Commission. Spring St. resident Linda McBride described the change to the ordinance before it was presented to council as “malfeasance and misfeasance” and questioned why the city bothers to have a Planning Commission if they intend to overstep its authority.
Member of Planning, Susan Harman, noted that sections regarding permits and fines had been removed from the ordinance. She asked that City Attorney Forrest Jacobi not change the ordinance draft before having it presented.
Alderman Harry Meyer said the presented ordinance had “no teeth” and there was nothing that the police could do to punish those parking illegally, which prompted City Clerk Ann Armstrong to say,. “Not true.”
Jacobi defended his decision to remove language regarding fines, saying that city code already has no parking mandates and that it was within the discretion of the officer, prosecutor, and district judge to establish the level of fine, which may be up to $100. The fine established in the original draft ordinance was $75 and Jacobi said rather than having a section that may require changing code, the city could use law relating to No Parking zones that currently exist.
Jacobi said as well that whether a vehicle is towed or not is under the discretion of the police department and officers. Meyer questioned whether anyone is towed in the downtown area saying he had never seen any cars towed.
While Jacobi said he was open to the parking district, he said the ordinance was a “disaster waiting to happen” and that he had seen language on his desk that he knew would be a “complete disaster.” He said language had been directly lifted from the Wilson Parking District in Fayetteville, and that Eureka Springs is not the larger city.
Jacobi also said at one point that the drafts spoke of someone in City Hall running the district, and argued that it would need to be the police department since it is open 24/7, 365 days a year. He used someone needing to loan their permit to another on a holiday and being unable to do so because city hall is closed as a reason to have the PD handle it.
He offered to step aside and “get out of it” which prompted Berry to raise his hand and ask Jacobi to stop.
Alderman Bill Ott noted that Police Chief Brian Young had been present at the workshops Planning held, and had not balked at the language relating to fines, and that he had thought the fines outlined were acceptable. He also said that the intention of the ordinance was to test out the concept before expanding to the entire city and wondered aloud if the ordinance would hold up to such a test without more specific wording. Ott also said he had spoken with those in charge of residential parking in Fayetteville and they had said their ordinances were working without issue.
Alderman Terry McClung said he was not comfortable of approve anything without Planning and Jacobi on the same page.
Chair of Planning Ann Tandy-Sallee suggested that council be allowed to see the original draft and the one created by Jacobi to compare and make their own decision on what should be included. Ott also suggested that Planning prioritize what items should be included. While some discussion happened on approving the ordinance for its first reading, the item was deferred until the next meeting.
The third Public Comment came from Karen Lindblad who said railed against the commitment of $250,000 council had made last November to a roundabout at the intersection of US 62 and Hwy. 23 without a public hearing. She said that the city may end up with “children twirling about” in the roundabouts with semi-trucks and that the $250,000 could have helped the city with other infrastructure issues. In iterating her disbelief that council had not held a public hearing, she said, “We’re [residents] tired of getting screwed.”
Other Items
- 2331 exchanging property parcels on Block 10 and 14 of the Magnetic Bay Survey passed third and final reading.
- Resolution 829 removing payment requirement of city parking meters for two hours through the month of December passed unanimously. Res. 830 to establish pension for the City Clerk Treasurer as well passed unanimously.
- David Avanzino was nominated and voted on unanimously to sit in the vacant seat on council. This was his first meeting.