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Kankakee mayor, council agree to keep snow-route ordinance; administration to run outreach and set towing timing
Summary
Council debated whether to enforce the city—s snow-route no-parking rule after recent storms and agreed to keep the ordinance in place, begin targeted outreach (door hangers, robocalls, social media) and have administration set operational towing/timing with input from DPW and towing vendors.
Kankakee—s mayor raised a blunt choice at the Nov. 17 City Council meeting: enforce the long-standing snow-route parking ordinance or repeal it. After a sustained exchange, council members voted informally to keep the ordinance and asked the administration to plan outreach and enforcement procedures.
"We either enforce the ordinance or we get rid of the ordinance," the mayor said on the council floor, framing enforcement as necessary to keep emergency lanes clear.
Alderman Osinga urged keeping the rule for public-safety reasons: "You absolutely have to keep these streets open," she said, recalling past large storms that required towing to open routes. Director Lopez, representing operations, emphasized practical limits for plowing: "If we can—t get to the curb and somebody—s streets lose 6 inches every storm, then the cars are further in the street and we can—t get through them," and explained why access to the curb matters for efficient snow removal.
Council did not adopt new ordinance text at the meeting. Instead members agreed on a set of next steps: the administration will prepare targeted resident outreach (door hangers on designated snow routes, robocalls, social-media pushes and local-channel notices), consult towing vendors about logistics and fees, and set a practical enforcement trigger (council discussion suggested avoiding immediate towing overnight and recommended waiting for a reasonable window after a multi-hour storm). Several members mentioned a tentative target date for beginning more active enforcement once residents had notice (dates discussed included Jan. 1 or Feb. 1), but no formal start date was set in the meeting.
Why it matters: The ordinance governs parking during snow events on marked snow routes and affects residents who park on those streets; enforcement involves towing and associated costs and is intended to keep emergency and main arterials passable.
Provenance: topicintro: SEG 466, topfinish: SEG 1208.
