Thursday, September 14, 2006
Trustees to hold hearings Monday
Staff Report
The village board will conduct three public hearings during its meeting Monday night. All three are in response to problems experienced on Main Street this summer.
The police committee discussed parking tickets again last month and the idea that it may be possible to re-ticket vehicles for an ongoing violation of the two-hour limit. But village attorney John Lambert said he believed there would be "serious enforcement issues" and suggested the best way to handle it would be through increased parking fines.
Police committee chairman Paul Kuhn told the trustees that police officers often hear comments from visitors that the $20 fine is a cheap price for all-day parking. The current fine, he said, does not act as a deterrent to over-limit parking.
The board, which declined to raise the fine earlier this summer, will hold a public hearing at 8 p.m. for a change that would raise parking fines to $35, except parking front of a fire hydrant which will remain at $50 and parking illegally in a handicap spot which is a $100 fine.
A hearing has also been scheduled at 8:30 p.m. for a change that prohibits left turns from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. when leaving Doubleday Field at both Main St. and Chestnut St. The move is expected to improve the flow of traffic out of the Doubleday Field parking lot.
The final public hearing, at 9 p.m., will address the growing number of businesses which are displaying merchandise outside the store.
Kuhn said last month there has been much abuse of the vending law this summer, including a number of shops which do not have a vending permit. A vending permit is required for outside display and it must be done on private, not public, property.
"I find this not only a safety concern, but what's going on in the village is very tacky. I think it has gotten very much out of hand," Kuhn said, adding that he believes vending permit should no longer be issued.
The public hearing will solicit comment about an amendment to the law that would do way with outdoor display of merchandise.
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