Mt. Lebanon looks to change overnight street parking policy
The Mt. Lebanon commissions are considering making changes to the overnight parking policy on township streets.
Currently, no car is permitted to park on the street between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. without receiving permission from the municipality.
The reasons for granting permission, however, are so loosely defined in the current ordinance that police Chief Aaron Lauth feels residents can take advantage. The ordinance requires a reason “such as” an overnight guest for permission to park on the street overnight. The inclusion of “such as” in the verbiage makes it difficult to deny serial overnight parkers.
“Abuse continues to grow,” Lauth told the commissioners during their May 22 meeting. “The current ordinance fails to address concerns.”
Residents who fill out an online form for permission to park on-street overnight are required to provide a reason, but Lauth said there is no way to deny any request, no matter how ridiculous the justification. His favorite, he said, was one instance in which the reason for requesting to park on the street was “because I’m an American.”
Lauth explained to commissioners that the overnight parking ordinance is intended to help protect neighborhoods from crime and make it easier for patrolling officers to identify potential dangers from lurking vehicles. Clear streets make snow removal and garbage collection easier for the public works department. Ticketing vehicles parked on the street overnight without permission also provides a source of revenue, with $162,105 collected in overnight parking reinforcement in 2016, according to Lauth.
Lauth said he does not want to do away with the parking restriction for these reasons, but said he believes revisions to the existing ordinance could help make it more difficult for residents to take advantage of the gaps in the current system. He recommended the commissioners consider a change that would allow for a certain number of free on-street parking nights per vehicle, with anything over that threshold would cost the vehicle owner. The number of free nights and the cost for additional nights was not discussed.
Lauth also suggested eliminating the need for a reason to park on the street overnight. The police aren’t concerned with the reason, he said, just whether or not the car has permission to be on the street. A new tracking program would be integral to the implementation of the proposed changes, Laugh said.
“I completely agree with your recommendations,” Ward 1 Commissioner John Bendel said.
The commissioners requested that Lauth and municipal Manger Keith McGill continue to develop a plan for proposed changes to the ordinance.
The commissioner also discussed enforcement of property maintenance code violations, such as overgrown grass, uneven sidewalks and properties in need of repair. Zoning Officer Joe Berkley presented the commissioners with lists of hundreds of violations that his department has issued from several recent years, the highest of which was 2013 with 893 violations.
When the township is contacted with a potential violation, Berkley said, an inspector is sent to the property to verify the issue and create a one-page letter informing the homeowner of the violation and setting a timeline for it to be fixed. The problem, Berkley said, comes with homeowner compliance.
Notices are often disregarded or homeowners cite divorce, illness or other issues as reasons the repairs can’t be made. Berkley said his department has been trying to handle these excuses with compassion, but the health and safety of the neighborhood needs to come first.
“We always enforce chapter seven, which is health and safety,” Berkley told the commissioners.
Chapter seven has been expanded over time, he said, to include instances from other sections of the code that could pose a danger to residents and neighbors.
“No matter how difficult life is for them, if their property poses a danger, we can’t allow that,” Ward 4 Commissioner David Brumfield said.
Cases that fail to make necessary property improvements are sent to the magistrate. Grass that’s left uncut is dealt with by the municipality using a third-party landscaper that sometimes needs a police escort due to harassment by the property owner, Berkley said.
The commissioners discussed means of improved enforcement, including stiffer deadlines, a hardship exemption and additional code enforcement officers during busy summer months. Before decisions are made, however, the commission has requested more detailed information about the nature of violations, how often they are considered dangerous and how many occur on habitual nuisance properties.