Evans City looking to enact ordinance on parking of oversized vehicles
EVANS CITY — Over the coming months, borough council is aiming to make additions to the borough code that address oversized vehicles, such as recreational vehicles and commercial vehicles, and define what they are and are not allowed to do on borough roads.
According to borough council member Cheri Deener-Kohan, the main focus of the proposed ordinance is to address the growing issue of large vehicles parking for an extended period of time along the sides of borough roads.
Over the course of the year, including on Monday, Aug. 3, numerous residents have attended borough council meetings to express their concerns over large vehicles, specifically RVs and motorhomes, taking up space parking next to their homes. In some cases, the residents say they are causing potential safety risks for their children.
A particular point of concern was Margaret Avenue, a narrow residential street barely wide enough for one vehicle to drive. As of early August, Evans City has imposed a temporary no-parking order along the entirety of the street. However, Deener-Kohan said borough council now believes the issue is more widespread.
“It started because of Margaret Avenue, but it just got bigger and bigger and bigger,” Deener-Kohan said. “Addressing this one person or one situation at a time is not going to complete the rest of the problem.”
According to public safety director Joseph McCombs, the borough’s code does not contain any definitions on what constitutes an “oversized vehicle,” leaving Evans City’s public safety department with little leverage to enforce regulations.
“The current regulation ... relies largely on the Pennsylvania vehicle code for general parking enforcement and does not comprehensively regulate long-term parking or storage of oversized vehicles, RVs, campers, trailers, commercial vehicles,” McCombs said at Monday night’s meeting.
“We can get people, according to the Pennsylvania code, as well as Evans City’s (existing) code,” Deener said. “We can find certain people, but it still doesn’t take away the problem. If they only do it once a month or once a week, we can’t really address it. Now, we can.”
A preliminary version of the proposed ordinance was read aloud during the monthly borough council meeting Monday, although no action was taken on it. It is still in its preliminary stages, but key parts of the ordinance so far state that drivers of oversized vehicles can park for as long as 24 hours before they have to move, and that moving their vehicle by only a slight distance will not be enough to reset the clock.
According to Deener-Kohan, the preliminary version of the ordinance is 30 pages long.
While the ordinance will still have to be advertised through the Butler Eagle, Deener-Kohan said the borough is aiming to make the new ordinance into law by the October meeting.
“Next month, we’re hoping that we can get it publicized, and then in October, it should be made into law,” Deener said.
