The city of Henderson will begin enforcing parking violations again after the city commission approves a revised parking ordinance, which it is expected to do in the coming weeks.
City Attorney Dawn Kelsey has presented revised regulations to the city commission—most recently at Tuesday’s regular scheduled meeting—and has received feedback both times so that the ordinance meets commissioners’ specifications before voting.
The updated ordinance proposal includes the following violations and fines:
- Parking in a space longer than three hours will be a $10 ticket if paid by 10 days and a $20 ticket if paid after ten days
- Parking in a disabled spot will be a $50 ticket if paid by 10 days and a $100 ticket if paid after 10 days
- Parking in a loading zone will be a $25 ticket if paid by 10 days and a $50 ticket if paid after 10 days
- Parking in front of fire hydrants will be a $25 ticket if paid by 10 days and a $50 ticket if paid after 10 days
- Parking in the yellow-curb no parking areas will be a $25 ticket if paid by 10 days and a $50 ticket if paid after 10 days
- Parking across the lines of a parking spot will be a $5 ticket if paid by 10 days and a $10 ticket if paid after 10 days
- Parking in a permitted boat or watercraft trailer parking without an approved permit for those spaces will be a $30 ticket if paid by 10 days and a $100 ticket is paid after 10 days
The $30 ticket for parking in a permitted boat or watercraft trailer spot can be wiped away if a cited person buys a permit for these spots, which costs $30, Kelsey said.
City Manager Buzzy Newman said the parking enforcement would occur randomly with no set schedule for the parking enforcement officer. He said the time that parking regulations are in place would be 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Kelsey said these regulations affect only those spots marked in the downtown area. She also mentioned that there are many spots currently unmarked in the downtown area—Washington Street next to Central Park is one example—and those spots will remain as they are.
The city quit enforcing parking during the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t begin enforcing after its end.
City officials said it’s necessary to begin enforcing parking again because the downtown area is more crowded than it’s been in recent memory, and having open parking spots is necessary for the rise in shopping and restaurant options.
The fines in the proposal are an increase to most of what’s on the books now. In most of the parking violations in the current ordinance, the fine is $5, and then $10 after the initial payment timespan elapsed.
But the proposal allows for more time to pay the initial ticket before the fine increases. The current ordinance allows for five days to pay before a bump occurs. The proposal would allow for 10 days before an increase.
A final change removes scattered parking from the city parking regulations. The proposed ordinance deletes a regulation that a driver can’t move his or her car 10 times within one week to avoid getting a ticket, or what’s known as scattered parking, Kelsey said.
