The Cedar Falls Committee of the Whole voted to pursue a staff-recommended ordinance amendment that would allow limited parking of trailers and other nonmotorized vehicles on unimproved surfaces in specified locations, with staff directed to return with refined size limits and tightened code language.

Jamie (city planning/code enforcement staff) told the council that the city recorded 532 parking-related complaints since January 2024 affecting 442 distinct properties, and that about 90% of those complaints were submitted anonymously. "This next slide actually shows how many complaints we've gotten since January 2024... 532 complaints related to parking... 442 individual properties," Jamie said, summarizing staff’s enforcement data.

Staff presented three options: (1) enforce the code as written (which staff said would require paved access to rear-yard parking and generally require hard surfaces for side-yard parking), (2) permit unimproved side-yard parking in narrowly defined circumstances, and (3) amend the code to allow limited unimproved side- and rear-yard parking with numeric size and time limits and exclusions for commercial uses. Jamie described photo examples and noted differing grandfathering rules for gravel surfaces installed before 2015.

Council discussion centered on balancing private-property use against neighborhood quality-of-life and enforceability. Councilmember (identified in the transcript as) Ms. Castle argued the original intent was to allow residents to park personal trailers on private property and urged against heavy-handed, citywide restrictions. Other council members said a clearer, enforceable rule was preferable to ambiguous enforcement practices. Several members asked staff to revisit the proposed size caps (for example, changing a 7-by-12 limit to 8-by-12) and to make sure the ordinance language aligns with parking-lot and stormwater regulations so unintended requirements do not apply to residential situations.

A motion to move forward with option 3 was made on the record by Kelsey Kunkel (speaker 9) and seconded by Mayor (speaker 1). The council voted by show of hands; the mayor announced the motion carried. The council instructed staff to refine size limits, verify grandfathering dates for existing gravel areas (2015 was cited), and correct cross-references to sections that treat parking lots and stormwater requirements, then return a revised ordinance for further consideration.

Because the council’s vote was a direction to prepare refined code language rather than an immediate ordinance adoption, staff will draft the amendment and present a formal ordinance with specific dimensions, grandfathering language and enforcement thresholds at a future meeting.