Council sets hearing for parking and moorage infractions; officials aim to categorize tickets as parking infractions

San Juan County Council on May 13 set a public hearing for June 10 to consider amendments to Title 10 (Vehicles and Traffic) that would explicitly classify certain moorage and parking penalties as parking infractions and align penalty amounts with council direction.

Public Works Director Collin Huntamer explained the proposed edits are largely administrative: when tickets are processed by the courts, statutory assessments differ between non-traffic civil infractions, traffic civil infractions and parking infractions. Mason from the Prosecutor’s Office said that, as written, some prior citations carried higher assessments; recasting them as parking infractions keeps a $250 moorage infraction closer to $250 total rather than several hundred dollars in assessments.

Council members discussed amounts and local context. One council member said the prior $20 fine for mooring was “the cheapest public moorage in the county” and was being abused; staff confirmed the county is allowed to cite up to $250 and the current signage posts $250 for marine facilities. For general parking violations the proposed starting penalty is $100; staff said they will use discretion and involve council where needed.

The council voted to set a public hearing on June 10 (the hearing date also aligns with other public hearings set the same day); the motion carried unanimously.

What’s next: Staff will prepare materials for the June 10 public hearing, including the draft ordinance language clarifying infraction categorization and the sample fines posted at marine facilities and other county properties.