<div>To tackle the challenge of clearing roads for special events, and the issue of city streets being used for long-term storage of trailers and other vehicles, city staff have proposed some changes to the municipal code related to parking."No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle, motor vehicle, or trailer upon any public street, roadway, thoroughfare, or alley within the city limits unless such vehicle or trailer is currently and lawfully registered, displays valid license plates or valid temporary registration permits as required by Montana law, and is fully operable," reads language proposed to be added to Section 5-4-2 of the city code.The city proposes to define an "operable" vehicle as a vehicle or motor vehicle that "is mechanically capable of being safely and legally driven or moved under its own engine power, and is free of major missing or broken critical components, including but not limited to: flat tires, missing wheels, broken axles, or missing engines."Any vehicle, motor vehicle, or trailer found parked upon any public street, roadway, thoroughfare, or alley in violation of this new proposed section of code may be officially tagged for removal once it has remained on the public right-of-way for three consecutive days."Upon satisfying the three-day baseline condition, law enforcement or code enforcement personnel shall affix a physical forty-eight (48) hour warning notice of intent to impound directly to a conspicuous location on the non-compliant vehicle or trailer," reads the proposed code language.The Belgrade City Council reviewed the proposed code updates at its last meeting held Aug. 10. There, councilmembers and city staff didn't take any action but only discussed the proposed changes. Any future action would occur at a later council meeting and require a public hearing. Revising the municipal codes takes multiple council votes at separate meetings."My suggestion to the council is, give us the time to get our staff educated on what the intent of the ordinance is," said City Manager Neil Cardwell during the meeting.There has recently been a case of inoperable cars being stored on the streets of a particular neighborhood to the chagrin of some of the neighbors there, according to Police Chief Dustin Lensing. Owners of such vehicles reportedly move the cars to various curbsides within the neighborhood to avoid impoundment. To address situations like this, the city proposes this language: "The shifting, towing, or relocation of a non-compliant vehicle or trailer from its originally tagged position to a different position, block, or new location upon any public street, alley, or city right-of-way shall not reset, interrupt, suspend, or void the 48-hour notice period."If a vehicle or trailer is not completely removed from all public streets, alleys, roadways, and city rights-of-way before the 48-hour warning notice expires, it shall be immediately removed, towed, and impounded, regardless of any interim change in its geographic location, according to the proposed code language. The city proposes, citing current state law, that the towing, storage, and other associated costs would be borne by the owner of the towed vehicle.The city also faces the problem of people storing inoperable RVs and homemade trailers on the street. The proposed city code update would allow the city to more easily get these vehicles out of the way.Owners of homemade trailers are required to obtain state-issued vehicle identification numbers (VINs)."Right now, we're staking out trailers trying to figure out who owns them," Lensing said during the Aug. 10 council meeting. "Basically, the amended [code] language that I'm proposing would state that all vehicles left on the roadway have to be licensed, operable, have visible registration VIN, and if it's not completely removed from city streets, then we do have the ability to tow as abandoned."The only member of the public who offered thoughts to the council on this topic at the Aug. 10 meeting was Ken Smith, a former councilmember. He worried that the proposed code language wouldn't give people enough time to load a camper."That's the only time we can park there is when we're loading or unloading it," Smith told the council. "You know how long it takes to load a camper, plus, charge the batteries, make sure everything's working?"<h2>Special events</h2>The city manager, police chief, or their designee could establish temporary no-parking zones upon public streets, alleys, rights-of-way, public parking lots, or other public property when necessary for a special event, festival, parade, public gathering, maintenance activity, construction activity, public safety purpose, or other municipal purpose, according to the proposed code language.The city proposes that 12 hours' notice be given before clearing downtown roads for special events, rather than the current standard of three days' notice."Temporary no-parking zones shall be designated through the placement of temporary signs stating the effective date and time of the restriction," reads the proposed code language.Vehicles parked in such temporary no-parking zones could be cited, relocated, removed, or impounded.Outside downtown, the notice period would be 72 hours unless an emergency condition exists that requires immediate action to protect public health, safety, or welfare.In general, anywhere in the city, the city would not be required to give any notice to establish temporary no-parking zones "in response to an active, imminent, or declared life-safety emergency, active disaster, or critical public safety hazard," according to the proposed code language. Vehicles impeding public safety operations under such conditions would be subject to immediate relocation or removal."Realistically speaking, we just want to make sure that we give the public fair warning, but that we're not caught behind the 8-ball when we're trying to host an event and track down vehicle owners," Lensing said during the Aug. 10 council meeting.<h2>Fire hydrants</h2>Because some fire hydrants are along private roads, the city sometimes has more trouble ensuring firefighters have unimpeded access to them. The city proposes to remedy this by adding the following language: " No person shall stop, stand, or park any vehicle, motor vehicle, or trailer within fifteen (15) feet of any fire hydrant, whether such hydrant is located upon a public street or alley, or upon a privately owned street, private roadway, private easement, commercial parking lot, or within a private residential development or townhome association."Any vehicle found parked in violation of this fire hydrant rule would be declared an immediate public safety hazard and an obstruction to emergency operations, and therefore no warning to the vehicle's owner would be required."Authorized law enforcement or fire officials are empowered to immediately cite, remove, or cause to be removed and impounded any such offending vehicle," reads the proposed code language. "The standard advanced tagging and notice timeframes outlined elsewhere in this chapter are explicitly waived for hydrant obstructions. The registered owner of the vehicle shall be solely liable for all subsequent commercial towing fees, municipal administrative penalties, and daily impound storage fees."The city no longer applies red paint near fire hydrants to indicate a no-parking zone, although remnants of previous paint exist in some places. The city no longer applies paint for this purpose because the weather quickly removes it, according to Cardwell.Under the proposed code language, owners of private streets or residential associations would be authorized and encouraged to paint adjacent curbs red and install "No Parking - Fire Lane" signage to maximize public compliance. However, failure to place such markings on private property would not invalidate enforcement under the proposed code language.</div>

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To tackle the challenge of clearing roads for special events, and the issue of city streets being used for long-term storage of trailers and other vehicles, city staff have proposed some changes to the municipal code related to parking. "No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle, motor vehicle,...

City proposes changes to parking rules

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To tackle the challenge of clearing roads for special events, and the issue of city streets being used for long-term storage of trailers and other vehicles

City proposes changes to parking rules

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