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Chair asks city attorney to clarify trailer-parking ordinance
Summary
Council members and the chair flagged ambiguous language in the city's trailer-parking ordinance—particularly distinctions between construction-site trailers, trailers parked at workers'homes, boulevard versus street parking, and seasonal limits—and moved to ask the city attorney to draft clearer wording; a contractor urged a temporary permit/tag system.
The chair opened discussion of a single agenda item concerning trailers parked on city streets, saying the ordinance is unclear about when construction-related trailers qualify for the exemptions that allow them to remain near active work sites.
A committee member who introduced the item said the current wording does not plainly require that a trailer be "actively working on a place or house" to qualify for the construction-related exception. The chair and other members read parts of the code aloud, noting a winter prohibition and a summer allowance: "No person shall stand or park any wheel trailer of any size on city owned streets or boulevards from November 1 to April 1," and from April 1 to Oct. 31 "they can be parked for a period not exceeding 5 days." The chair also said some local practice had allowed longer parking periods in some cases.
Members raised enforcement and safety concerns, saying trailers parked on boulevards (which are city property) still obstruct plowing and street sweeping. The chair described current police practice for abandoned or long-unmoved vehicles: officers "chalk the tire" and return in five days, then ticket if the vehicle remains.
A committee member moved "that we send the ordinance as far as the trailers are concerned to the city attorney and see what kind of draft he can come up with," and another member seconded the motion. The motion was seconded and the chair indicated the item would be forwarded to the city attorney for possible redrafting; the transcript does not record a roll-call vote on that motion.
During public comment, Rod Wing, who said he runs his own construction business, urged the council to consider a temporary on-site permit or tag rather than a strict five-day limit. "If there was to be a little permit that the construction guys can say, 'hey, I'm in zone whatever at such and such address. Can you give me a permit from this date to this date?'", Wing said, adding that contractors sometimes wait on supplies and strict time limits can force crews to rush work.
The chair said staff would transmit the council's request to the city attorney for drafting and legal input. No ordinance change or new enforcement procedure was adopted at the meeting; the next step identified was review of the attorney's proposed language.
