CHAPTER NO. 2283

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CLINTON, IOWA, 1999 BY AMENDING PARKING REGULATIONS IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLINTON, IOWA:

Section 1.  Purpose.  The purpose of this ordinance is to:

(A)      Create a customer friendly parking environment where on-street parking is utilized for short term parking primarily by patrons of individuals or organizations occupying downtown properties.

(B)       Promoting the use of off-street parking lots by employees or others who need longer-term parking in the downtown area.

 (C)      Establish a uniform and consistent administrative procedure for handling dismissal of improvidently issued parking citations.

 (D)      Establish a gradually increasing financial penalty to discourage habitual parking violators.

 (E)       Establish a validation system so that no customer, patron or client visiting the downtown will pay a parking fine.

 (F)       Eliminate the three (3) hour per day time limit for parking in the downtown distrit.

(G)      Permit the parking administrator to utilize selective enforcement in order to maximize the effectiveness of parking enforcement officers and promote the purposes of this ordinance.

Section 2.  Amendment.  Chapter 69 of the City Ordinances is amended by deleting Section 69.14 and substituting the following in place of the former 69.14:

SECTION 69.14.  DOWNTOWN PARKING REGULATIONS

1.  Overparking Prohibited.  No person shall park a vehicle for more than 2 consecutive hours during any one day in any one on-street parking stall within the downtown parking zone except in the following areas where the parking limit for on-street parking shall be as indicated: 

 A.        North side of 100 block South 4^th Street from 1^st Street to the west boundary of the U.S. Post Office property shall be 8 hours.

B.         West side of the 300 block of 1^st Street from 4^th Avenue South to 3^rd Avenue South shall be 8 hours.

2.  Downtown Parking Zone Boundaries.  The boundaries are as follows:  Commencing at the intersection of the south line of 3^rd Avenue South with the westerly line of South 4^th Street, in the City of Clinton, Iowa, which is the point of beginning; thence easterly along the south line of 3^rd Avenue South to the intersection of said south line with the west line of South 1^st Street; then southerly along the west line of South 1^st Street and vacated South 1^st Street to the intersection of said west line with the north line of 8^th Avenue South; then westerly along said north line of 8^th Avenue South to the intersection of said north line with the westerly line of South 4^th Street; then northerly along said westerly line of South 4^th Street to the point of beginning; all located in the City of Clinton, Iowa.

3.  Parking Limit for Public Parking Lots.  The parking limit for off-street public parking lots will be as follows:

a.         DeWitt Park lot will be 48 hours except for the easterly side of the first row of parking spaces will be designated as 3 hour parking.

b.         Clinton Park lot will be 48 hours.

c.         5^th Avenue South and South 1^st Street lot will be 48 hours.

d.         4^th Avenue South and South 2^nd Street lot will be 3 hours.

e.         6^th Avenue South and South 2^nd Street lot will be 3 hours.

f.          200 block 6^th Avenue South lot will be 3 hours.

4.  Selective Enforcement.  The parking administrator is hereby authorized to utilize selective enforcement procedures to promote the purposes of this ordinance and maximize the use of parking enforcement funds.

 5.  Penalties for Parking Violations.

 A.           One courtesy ticket will be issued per license number for the life of that number.  The courtesy ticket will consist of a standard enforcement ticket, which will enter the license number into the parking system records.  A second courtesy notice will be placed on the violator’s windshield explaining the courtesy ticket policy.  The following penalties apply after issuance of an initial courtesy ticket:

B.            Any person parking a vehicle in violation of this ordinance shall be subject to a penalty of $5.00 for the first five violations in a calendar year.  After five citations have been issued in a calendar year to any license number the fine for the next five citations in the same calendar year will increase to $10.00 per citation.  Thereafter the fine for each successive series of five violations in the same calendar year will increase in the same fashion by $5.00 for each citation for each series of five additional violations in a calendar year.

C.           The penalty for multiple parking violations within any one 24 hour period will be $5.00 for the first violation, $10.00 for the second violation and $20.00 for the third violation.

D.           An additional penalty of $20.00 per violation is hereby assessed for any parking violation not paid within 7 business days in which City Hall is open for business following issuance of the citation. 

6.  Parking Citations.  Parking citations shall have the following information printed on the citation:

             A.        “Downtown patrons (not employees, business owners, sales or delivery people) may present this citation to any downtown merchant for a free validation.”

             B.         “Anyone not eligible for free validation may contest this charge within 7 days after issuance of the citation by filing a written complaint on a form available at City Hall at the address listed above.  Failure to pay a judgment for a parking violation will be grounds for refusal to renew a vehicle registration, impoundment of a vehicle, Court action and/or suspension of a vehicle owner’s driver’s license.”

 7.         Parking Validation Program.  The downtown partnership division of the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce is hereby authorized to issue free parking validation stickers to all businesses and organizations in the downtown district eligible to participate in the parking validation program.  The parking administrator is hereby authorized to establish rules and regulations for disqualification of downtown businesses or organizations who abuse the validation program by issuing validation stickers to ineligible violators.  A participating business or organization is entitled to one warning from the Parking Administrator before being disqualified from the validation system.  A business disqualified from participating in the validation system may reapply for participation after an ineligibility period of 12  months.

The downtown partnership will reimburse the City at the rate of $2.50 per validated parking violation.  The Downtown Partnership is hereby authorized to use funds from the Self Supporting Municipal Improvement District tax to subsidize the parking ticket validation program.  The Downtown Partnership is also encouraged to promote the validation system to businesses and customers through coop advertising or other marketing programs conducted by the Downtown Partnership.  Funds utilized to subsidize the validation program shall not exceed $1,250 per year unless additional authorization is received from the City Council.

8.  Dismissal of Contested Citation

(A)  A complaint contesting a citation must be presented in writing within 7 days following issuance of the citation at City Hall, on a form provided at the City Clerk’s Office in City Hall.  The complaint may be delivered in person or by mail.

(B)  Citations shall be voided due to any of the following data entry errors.

                         (1)  Wrong vehicle make or model;

                        (2)  Wrong location;

                        (3)  Wrong date;

                        (4)  Wrong time;

                        (5)  Wrong tag number;

                        (6)   Incomplete information on citation;

                        (7)   Downtown Customer.

(C)  A citation may be dismissed if the violation was due to circumstances beyond the vehicle operator’s control such as vehicle mechanical problems (if a vehicle is temporarily inoperable and the vehicle is moved within 8 hours).  Or (b) vehicle operator health problem (such as sudden illness). 

(D)  An out of town or out of State license tag will not be grounds to dismiss a citation.  If the cost to collect a citation exceeds the amount of the fine, the Parking Administrator is authorized to consider and implement alternate collection methods permit by law.

 (E)  If a vehicle operator fails to display a mirror placard it is not grounds to dismiss. 

 (F)  An Administrative Fee of $5.00 will be charged for a citation contested if the fine is greater than $5.00.

 (G)  A contractor working on a building is not grounds to dismiss a citation.  Permitting procedures can be found under Section 69.12(d).

 (H)  Other situations of undue hardship, excusable oversight or inequity.  A dismissal of the citation will not be considered if the dismissal would create an inequality in enforcement that the general public is required to follow.  The Parking Administrator is authorized to gather statistical information from citation data.

 (I)  The director of the Municipal Transit Authority is hereby designated as Parking Administrator.  Any dismissal of a citation under subparagraph H of this ordinance must be approved by both the Parking Administrator and the City Attorney.  Any other dismissals may be approved by the Parking Administrator or the Administrator’s designated agent.  The City Administrator or the Administrator’s designee, shall conduct a semi-annual random audit of parking citation dismissals to review compliance with the provisions of this Ordinance.

 9.  Severability Clause.  If any section, provision or part of this ordinance shall be adjudged invalid or unconstitutional, such adjudication shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole or any section, provision or part thereof not adjudged invalid or unconstitutional.

 10.  Repealer.  All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed.

 11.  Effective Date.  This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after January 1, 2005.

 ________________________________

 LaMetta K. Wynn, Mayor

  Attest:

 ________________________________

Deborah K. Neels, City Clerk

 ADOPTED:  November 9, 2004.