As of last Friday, October 1, Kenai residents may not park their cars on city streets overnight until May 1, 2016.
City Councilor Ryan Marquis…
Marquis: “Namely the months when there’s snow on the ground, and that’s to allow the city vehicles to get through and plow the roads without worrying about people’s vehicles.”
Kenai Municipal Code states that during those seven winter months “no person shall leave any vehicle unattended on any City street between the hours of 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. of any day. (Ords. 284, 419)”
Last November, the city council also simplified those parking codes by setting a fine that can be issued to violators after a warning. Police Chief Gus Sandahl explains…
Sandahl: “What would happen in the past is we would issue warning tags on vehicles and sometimes knock on doors and wake people up in the middle of the night to get them to move their car. As a last resort if those steps weren’t working and the vehicle was interfering with snow removal we would have to impound the vehicle. A middle of the night impound can cost over $300.00 and plus the inconvenience of someone not having their car parked where they thought it was when they wake up in the morning.”
Those fines are typically $50 and no more than $500 according to the codes.