Athens residents may no longer have to move their cars from their residential streets every 24 hours.
On Monday night, City Council will hear a presentation about new legislation that would allow residents to keep their cars on their streets for a longer period of time, as long as they receive a pass from the city.
Currently, the city marks residents' tires with chalk and fines them if they have not moved their cars within 24 hours. The legislation is unpopular with Athens residents such as Grace Corbin, who said that the city should be more lenient on parking.
“I understand that they don’t want junkers just sitting there on the street all the time,” Corbin said. “But I think they should make exceptions and give people passes for the street that they live on.”
Chris Knisely, president of City Council, said the legislation would be optional for each neighborhood of Athens.
“As I understand the program, it would only be in certain neighborhoods that vote to enact that,” Knisely said.
She said Monday's meeting will be the first discussion of the possible program for council and that a special work session would be held at 1 p.m. Monday to discuss the issue before bringing it to council.
Michele Papai, D-3rd Ward, said the new legislation would come at a cost to residents.
“There will be a fee and some kind of tag that you will have to have for people to leave their cars parked for a longer period of time,” Papai said.
Papai also said the program is in its very early stages and was unsure whether the program was viable yet.
“It’s a little soon for me to say whether I support it or not," she said. "I see the point to having alternative parking plans.”
Other notable items to be discussed in the Transportation Committee will include an extension of Mckinley Avenue and further consideration of allowing ATVs and other low-speed vehicles on public roadways.
In a previous City Council meeting, council member Jeff Risner, D-2nd ward, called the proposed legislation the “stupidest thing” he had ever heard.
In addition, Mayor Steve Patterson was in opposition to the idea.
“This has safety disaster written all over it," he said.
The council committees will also discuss upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment plant, as well as contractor registration and appropriations in Monday’s meeting.
