MORGANTOWN — After a lengthy discussion and some amendments, Morgantown City Council passed on first reading an ordinance amending city code as it pertains to the city’s parking districts.
With the exception of any district with higher fees already in place, the ordinance sets annual permits fees for all existing parking districts at $20 for resident permits (currently $5), $20 for visitor permits (currently $10) and $50 for nonresident permits (currently $5).
The law would also provide a five-day limitation for temporary permits in all existing and future districts.
Aside from the permit fees and temporary permits, the law will serve more as a template for the creation of future parking districts than a shakeup for existing districts. Because existing districts were each formed by individual ordinances in an attempt to address the challenges of the specific neighborhoods, those specific ordinances would need amended to implement changes.
For example, the law addressed Tuesday says that residents of a home can purchase up to three residential permits or two residential and one visitor permit. However, it was explained that the number of permits a resident can have is already addressed in the enabling legislation of each district, most of which mirror the second option listed above.
Prior to the unanimous passage of the law’s first reading, council did provide some amendments, the most debated of which will limit use of the annually renewed visitor passes to three consecutive days by any person or vehicle.
This amendment passed, 4-3, with Rachel Fetty, Jenny Selin and Barry Wendell voting in the minority.
Council also unanimously passed an amendment that would implement revocation of visitor passes upon two or more cases of abuse and limit potential changes made to a district administratively by the city manager to the lesser of 10 percent of the total parcels in a district or a maximum of 25 parcels (75 total permits).
In other news from Tuesday’s meeting:
- Council unanimously approved a two-year extension of the city’s Essential Air Service (EAS) agreement with Southern Airways.
- Unanimously denied a zoning reclassification request for one parcel in the city’s 7th Ward presented by Calvary Baptist Church. The request came with a recommendation to deny by the city’s planning commission. The church is involved in litigation with the city concerning a previous effort to have the parcel rezoned from R-1 to B-2.
- Recognized proclamations pertaining to the upcoming national letter carrier’s food drive scheduled for May 12; Municipal Clerk Week (May 6-12) and Peace Officer’s Memorial Day on May 15, which is part of Police Week.
