The Waukesha City Ordinance and Licensing Committee voted Oct. 13 to recommend that the common council consider amendments to Municipal Code Chapter 7 at its next meeting. The changes, requested by the Police Department and presented by city staff, would make several state-based parking provisions municipal offenses, add a remedy for vehicles on public streets the city cannot tie to an owner, and raise parking forfeiture amounts.

City legal staff described three principal changes requested by the Police Department: making parking in fire lanes and parking too close to hydrants municipal offenses, requiring that vehicles parked on city streets be registered where registration is required under state law, and allowing removal of vehicles (including trailers without VINs or registration) deemed illegally parked when the owner cannot be located despite reasonable efforts, rather than waiting the existing 72-hour abandonment period.

Legal staff said the proposed amendments largely adopt state law language so officers could issue municipal citations rather than relying on circuit-court prosecution. The memorandum presented to the committee also proposes modest increases to the bond schedule: a typical parking forfeiture would rise from $20 to $25, and the late amount that now goes to $39 after 15 days would increase to $44. The proposal also adds a specific forfeiture for handicap parking violations (proposed at $150, rising to $175 after 15 days) and establishes amounts for the newly created fire-lane and unregistered-vehicle infractions.

“If their best efforts cannot locate the owner, then the vehicle can be removed from the street right away without waiting for that 72 hour period,” city legal staff said, explaining the change the Police Department requested for situations such as unmarked home-built trailers that have no VIN or registration. The staff member said a judge would later determine whether the police made a good-faith effort to locate the owner.

Committee members asked about towing and storage costs, how often the issue arises and whether the proposed rules could unintentionally affect someone temporarily parked while moving. City staff responded that the occurrence was not frequent but that the Police Department wanted a remedy for situations where owners cannot be identified and removal is warranted; the judge would assess whether the department’s efforts to find an owner were reasonable.

The committee voted to recommend the council adopt the changes and to forward the proposed ordinance for the council’s consideration. The committee’s vote was recorded in the transcript as unanimous.

Why it matters

The changes would give municipal officers additional, explicit authority to issue citations for several parking violations and to remove certain vehicles more quickly when an owner cannot be located. The revised bond schedule increases penalties modestly and adds a specific monetary penalty for handicap-parking violations. City staff said the changes aim to align Waukesha’s penalties with neighboring municipalities and provide tools for the Police Department to address vehicles that currently cannot be ticketed or towed.

Next steps

The committee recommended that staff prepare and send a draft ordinance to the common council for its first reading; that ordinance would need the council’s readings to become city law. The committee’s recommendation will appear on the council agenda for consideration.