Council to hold public hearing on overnight parking after debate over 2AMto6AM ban and 72-hour alternative

The North Canton City Council voted to add a public hearing to its June 9 meeting to consider revising the cityovernight parking ordinance, following extended debate about emergency access, enforcement workload and neighborhood impacts.

City staff told council the current ordinance — which prohibits parking on most city streets from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. (unless posted otherwise or permission is granted) — originated decades ago to clear streets for nighttime street sweeping. Staff said the city no longer performs sweeping at night and presented two broad alternatives: a citywide 72-hour rule to remove long-stationary vehicles or a street-by-street inventory that would restrict parking on narrow rights-of-way or on the fire-hydrant side of particularly narrow streets.

"The suggestion is for a pretty aggressive after 48 hours after you get a ticket, the vehicle will be towed off the street," a staff member explained while describing enforcement options tied to a 72-hour standard. Chief Kemp, the police chief, said his position had shifted and that new technologies such as license-plate readers make complaint-driven monitoring more effective. "Now with the advent of some of the newer technologies we've got in, we have received more benefit from the technologies that we have in place," Chief Kemp said.

Council members raised practical concerns: whether the change would lead to more vehicles permanently using streets as extended driveways (RVs, campers or multiple cars belonging to a single household), how the rule would be applied consistently, and whether enforcement would divert police resources from other priorities. A councilmember calculated about 520 parking tickets were issued last year, equivalent to roughly 1.5 tickets per night, and questioned whether that volume justified an ordinance change.

Staff described enforcement practices: complaint-based 72-hour checks (marking tires and returning after 72 hours), potential towing only after repeated unpaid tickets, and existing discretion to grant short-term permissions for residents with temporary needs. Police staff said a permit process (for temporary needs such as dumpsters or overnight guests) is possible but noted a similar permit proposal had failed previously.

Council members debated whether to adopt a blanket citywide rule (for example, prohibiting parking on the hydrant side of narrow streets), or to perform a street inventory to set neighborhood-specific restrictions based on right-of-way width. Staff recommended considering rights-of-way narrower than roughly 40 feet (about 24 feet curb to curb) for one-sided restrictions to preserve emergency access.

After discussion, Councilmember (unspecified) moved to add a public hearing on the topic to the June 9 council meeting; the motion passed on an aye voice vote. Members instructed staff to collect public comment (including survey responses already received) and to bring more detailed proposals to the hearing, including possible permit options, targeted signage plans and enforcement criteria.

The council did not adopt a final policy at the meeting; instead it scheduled the public hearing to gather broader resident input and direction before making any ordinance change.