Heber City is relaxing its on-street parking regulations

Heber City residents are worried that their neighbors will complain about them because they can get some peace and quiet by parking on the street.

The City Council decided to make the municipal ordinance more relaxed and transparent.

City Attorney Jeremy Cook said last week that the suggested amendments were made at the request of the Department of Code Enforcement, which had labeled some city regulations as too restrictive.

“We have problems,” Cook said. “We were getting complaints from people pointing to the code and saying, ‘Tow this person immediately. They’ve been parking there for an hour and violating city code. … At the same time, there is some language here that no longer makes any sense.

Cook said he reviewed confusing and limiting parts of the code with the intention of providing better language.

Although this task led him to completely eliminate much of the existing code, he said he found himself returning to it often, looking for reasonable provisions in the newer, clearer language that can now be found as a city ordinance.

Still, there are some differences.

“No vehicle may be parked on any road for more than 72 hours,” Cook said. “I think that’s quite reasonable.”

Drivers also cannot park between the curb and the sidewalk, vehicles cannot be parked facing oncoming traffic, and they cannot be parked on public roads for repairs or for sale.

Recreational vehicles and trailers may also not be parked on a public residential street for more than 12 hours a week, and if the trailer is left temporarily, it cannot be disconnected from the accompanying vehicle. However, a temporary permit may be issued by the Chief of Police or his designee for special purposes, provided there are no reasonable alternatives and the parking will not obstruct traffic, visibility or public safety measures.

“If you want to get a moving cube but you can put it in your driveway, you have to put it in the driveway, not on the street,” Cook gave as an example. “If you don’t have a driveway and this is the only place you can put it for a day or two while you move, you may be able to get a special permit.”

The hope is that the changes, Cook said, will prevent calls from people wanting to complain when their neighbors have parked a boat in front of their house, getting ready to go out.

“What if they are fixing their truck?” Councilor Yvonne Barney asked. “What if they have a long dump truck or something and they put it in front of the house and they do maintenance because they just ran and they take it out in front of the house so they can clean it up? Does this constitute a violation of that?”

“Yes,” Cook replied.

Barney said someone in her neighborhood whose job uses a long bed truck in her neighborhood is in this situation and can’t afford to take her somewhere.

“They literally stand in front of the house and do everything they can as fast as they can, and sometimes it takes one to two hours,” she said. “He is a person who earns a living for his family. Looks like he won’t be staying there overnight.

She said she was concerned that if someone filed a complaint, they could face enforcement issues.

Cook told her that code enforcement would likely only report a potential violation if someone filed a complaint, although she didn’t think anyone would.

“I just don’t want to do anything that would interrupt someone who does this for a living,” Barney said.

Councilors agreed that the change was unlikely to have a negative impact on people like Barney’s neighbor, but would provide a safeguard against people who might abuse parking on public roads.

“I like this language because it allows those who abuse the code to enforce the code,” said Councilman Scott Phillips.

“As is often the case with enforcement, I have just learned that I have broken the law multiple times. This is fantastic,” mused Councilor Aaron Cheatwood. “That’s my only concern. … I like the idea that there are teeth here. I think the teeth are way too sharp for the value.

If he takes his sailboat out two or three times a week, he said he’ll have to park it on the street for more than 12 hours over seven days to make proper arrangements.

“I realize we don’t have an enforcement officer chalking tires right now, but we will at some point,” he said. “And man, the public is going to be furious that we have this person in this position.”

He said he had encountered such an officer where he lived in the past, and residents’ complaints went unheeded when they committed even minor city code violations.

“They were terrible to deal with,” he recalled.

“We have a lot of boats,” noted Mayor Heidi Franco.

She also mentioned that people travel frequently and three days of street parking may be too limiting for someone who goes out and leaves their car parked on the street. They could go home and find a ticket, she added.

Not everyone agreed.

Phillips made a motion to adopt the updated code, with an amendment saying people can park their recreational vehicles on public streets for 36 hours during the week, rather than the previously proposed 12 hours. At Cheatwood’s urging, he also amended the proposed code to allow trailers and recreational vehicles parked in driveways to come within five feet of sidewalks as long as they do not extend beyond the paths.

Councilor Mike Johnston pushed for a section to be added clarifying that no vehicles should block sidewalks, and the motion passed unanimously.

“We hope it will be very useful,” Franco said.