Members of the public questioned and expressed concerns about the city’s proposed parking ordinance that lists such items as the distance regulations between vehicles and mailboxes and driveways, and the ordinance’s inability of being a one-size-fits-all mandate in communities throughout the city.
The Parking Advisory Committee met on Monday, September 26, in the City Hall council chambers. For the past two months, committee members, comprised of residents from different subdivisions, recommended how the parking ordinance should regulate parking.
The draft, made available on the city’s website before the September 26 meeting, allows on-street parking as opposed to the current ordinance. However, the draft says vehicles must be parked 12 feet from the skirt of the driveway and 15 feet from the mailbox. Cars cannot park in front of mailboxes between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on days that the mail is delivered.
The city’s current parking ordinance has been in the codebook for a few years, but it wasn’t until this year that it was enforced based on public complaint.
The new ordinance draft takes into consideration that parked cars must not obstruct the passage of emergency vehicles, that mail carriers can access mailboxes, and that garbage and recycling can still be picked up.
The Parking Advisory Committee shaped the ordinance in accordance with the Florida statute, and also researched parking ordinances in other Central Florida communities.
Read the September 30 issue of The Apopka Chief for more about the meeting.
