North Augusta is starting to face one of the growing pains cities feel when they get larger. City council began looking at problems with parking, enforcement and collecting fines during a study session on Aug. 24.
Assistant City Administrator Rachelle Moody laid out the city’s current process. The city enforces parking laws throughout the city. Enforcement at parking meters is done only in Riverside Village and citations increased significantly in October 2019.
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She said, “Since we began issuing, we have a number of repeat offenders in Riverside Village who regularly park where they shouldn’t. They know they shouldn’t; they have a number of unpaid parking fines and they just continue to add up.”
The current fine for a parking citation is $20.00 and people have two days to pay. If payment is not made in that timeframe, the fine doubles to $40.00.
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Moody said one of the problems is that’s the extent of what the city can do under the current ordinance.
She said once it’s doubled, generally the fines stay on the books, unpaid.
“We do not have any system for escalation, additional fine or fee,” she explained. “We don’t have any code provision for putting a wheel lock or a boot on somebody’s vehicle. Nor do we have a provision in the code for towing a car for unpaid tickets.”
Moody told council members people have complained to the city that two days to pay the fine isn’t enough time. Mayor Briton Williams and councilmembers agreed that is one thing they should look at changing. It was suggested 14 days to 30 days would be more reasonable.
As for enforcement, council members were concerned what impact adding the ability to boot or towba vehicle would have on the amount of time police officers would be tied up on a parking problem. Councilwoman Jenafer McCauley suggested having the staff contact other cities to find out their policies, especially on enforcement and if it is done by city employees or a private company.
The discussion turned back to issues specific to Riverside Village. Moody explained the goal there is to get people to comply with regulation for on-street parking.
“We have the on-street parking requirements for a number of reasons to include vehicle turnover and to include revenue generation to help pay Riverside Village bonds. We don’t necessarily want to be punitive,” Moody said. “In a perfect world, we wouldn’t issue any parking citations because people would be parking where they’re supposed to for however long they’re supposed to and they’d be feeding the meter.”
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One possible solution is to begin offering a yearly parking pass. Several councilmembers said it is an idea worth considering.
Councilman Ed Presnell said, “I think that will generate more revenue than unpaid parking tickets and people parking in general. I think we need to take a long, hard look, especially at Riverside Village.”
Moody cautioned, “All our parking fee structures in Riverside Village are per our master parking agreement with the developer. I’m not saying it can’t happen. I’m just saying that is another element that we would need to re-negotiate.”
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The mayor and council members ended the study session by going into executive session. The stated purpose was to discuss contracts involving parking, including for Medac and Riverside Village.
Before adjourning, the staff was instructed to research what other cities are doing, how much the fine should be, collecting fines and enforcing parking laws. Council wants staff to bring recommendations to the Sept. 13 study session.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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