Hood River City Council Moves Forward with 1 Week, 2 Blocks Parking Ordinance
By Cole Goodwin
Hood River, OR July 27, 2023– Hood River City Council continued their discussion on a 72-hr parking ordinance for the City of Hood River at their July 24th meeting. The discussion culminated in the decision to draft an ordinance that would require all vehicles parked within the public right of way to move at least two blocks, every seven days.
Law enforcement and the City Attorney have said that the ordinance will help law enforcement to move people camping on the street, and problem vehicles, but that the ordinance is not aimed at facilitating neighbor battles.
“I would always advise the police to not become a tool for a neighborhood spite battles,” said Daniel Kearns, the Hood River City Attorney, Daniel Kearns.
Susan Crowly, a retired defense lawyer and resident of Hood River, spoke at the event, reiterating her previous points that a 72-hr parking ordinance would mean that residents would have to move their vehicles 129 times a year, concerns about
The discussion once again sparked debate spanning a wide range of concerns.
Susan Crowly, a retired defense lawyer and resident of Hood River spoke at the event, reiterating several of her previous points about the impact of the ordinance on residents, the lack of available off street parking in low-income, and historic neighborhoods. She noted that a 72-hr parking ordinance would mean that residents would have to move their vehicles 129 times a year.
Crowly has spoken out publicly about the ordinance as “bad public policy”, saying she disagreed with the ordinance as written, saying it gave complete complete discretion concerning enforcement to City Police and the City Manager.
“You just don’t do that legally,” she said bringing up concerns over un-equal enforcement of the ordinance, “There are no standards for what warrants prosecution. They are inviting a situation where it’s understood you can ignore the rule unless someone complains and that is not good public policy.”
Mayor Paul Blackburn thanked Crowly for her advocacy.
The discussion was largely centered around what an acceptable about of time to park in one place in the City right of way would be, a parking permit program, and whether there was a need to differentiate between vehicle types such as motor vehicles, boats, and RV’s.
“Most people seem to think 72-hrs is too short, I tend to agree with that,” said Grant Polson, City Councilor. “I don’t think having to move your vehicle somewheew between a week and a month, a year is asking too much.”
Polson said he didn’t feel like it was necessary to differeate between vehicle types on the streetet.
Megan Sauders, City Councilor, agreed 72-hrs was too short and added that even a week or 30 days seemed too short as she could imagine legitimate reasons people may not be able to move their car in that timeframe. She also suggested requiring folks to move up to 200 ft as opposed to a half mile.
Saunders was not in favor of a parking permit program.
“I really don’t want us to get to a point where we need to do a parking permit program,” said Saunders.
Saunders also noted that she had more sympathy for motor vehicles as opposed to boats which are parked in the city right of way, and could potentially be in favor of potentially differentiating between vehicle types in an ordinance.
Saunders also pointed out that the ordinance’s broad language and discretion given to law enforemenct and the City was problematic.
“That just feels like a weird tool to identify or target who we or the police or whoever at the time decided is the undesirable element we want to harass and move out of town,” said Saunders.
“The unequal enforcement is a big deal,” agreed Daniel Kearns.
“Personally I think that having to move your car every few days is not a hard thing to do…I think a month is unnecessarily long,” said Mark Zanmiller, City Councilor. He also added that he felt vehicles should have to move at least 400 ft.
Doug Stipina echoed Zanmiller saying he was in favor of trying the 72-hr notice and then having a review down the road in three to six months to check in with how the ordinance to review it’s impact.
“There’s a difference between parking and storage. I mean I moved out of town for six months and I made a plan for my cars to not be sitting in front of my house,” said Mayor Paul Blackburn “If I was King I would say two blocks, one month.”
Blackburn tried to appeal to Saunders asking her what could be done to get her to vote in favor of the ordinance. Saunders reiterated that she would be on board for thirty days and two blocks. Her opposition did not sway the other council members in attendance.
The council then moved forward with a vote. Blackburn, Polson, Zanmiller, and Stipina, voted in favor of directing staff to draft a one-week and two blocks parking ordinance for the City of Hood River. Saunders voted in opposed the decision but was outvoted.
Which would require all persons within the City of Hood River to move their vehicles, boats, campers, and other personal property parked in the public right-of-way or on public property to a location at least two blocks away, every week.
A video of the meeting is available on YouTube. The parking ordinance discussion begins at timestamp 1:56:14.
Upcoming Public Meeting Notice
The next Hood River City Council Meeting will take place August 14, 2023 at 6 p.m. at Hood River City Hall located at 211 2nd St. The City of Hood River Council meetings can be viewed live on YouTube. Please check the City’s website for the most current schedule of City public meetings.
Residents are encouraged to submit their testimony and written public comments to the City Recorder by emailing j.gray@cityofhoodriver.gov.
