Wabasha County engineer brings proposed highway parking ordinance to board for discussion
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Summary
County Engineer Dietrich Flesch presented a proposed county highway parking ordinance intended to address long‑term parking and trailer storage in highway right‑of‑way and suggested a public hearing be scheduled.
WABASHA COUNTY — Dietrich Flesch, Wabasha County engineer, presented a draft county highway parking ordinance at the board's meeting, saying it would give the county a clearer enforcement mechanism for long‑term parking and trailers within the highway right‑of‑way.
Flesch said the proposal is intended to address occasional problems such as long‑term parking and trailers left on the shoulder and to provide officers and county staff with an enforcement tool that is not available under current state law alone. "I think this would work to prevent that and then also provide an enforcement mechanism for those violations when they do occur," Flesch told the board.
The draft ordinance would allow the board to exclude specific areas where local conditions make restrictions inappropriate and to adopt no‑parking or limited‑parking zones by resolution, Flesch said. The ordinance contains sections that would require signs for locations where parking is prohibited under shared‑right‑of‑way rules but also includes provisions aimed at limiting long‑term trailer storage on county roads.
Board members asked whether the ordinance would require posting signs countywide. Flesch replied that signs would be used in specific trouble spots but that for countywide provisions such as restrictions tied to snow removal, separate signage would not be necessary. "If it's specific to a certain area, say, along 1 side of a street ... it would probably go well to deter people from parking there," he said.
Flesch recommended pursuing the formal public‑hearing process; the board agreed to proceed with a public hearing if the board wishes to adopt the ordinance. No formal vote on the ordinance took place at the meeting.
Commissioners noted the measure is similar to ordinances used in neighboring counties and said enforcement would likely be infrequent but useful when issues arise, such as trailers left more than 24 hours, which the draft ordinance would address.
The board did not adopt the ordinance at the meeting; staff will proceed with the process for a public hearing if the board formally moves forward.
