ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Officials are weighing a slew of changes to the city’s parking rules after months of complaints from residents and business owners at public meetings.
Allentown City Council introduced a 34-page package detailing proposed ordinance changes Wednesday, with members expected to vote on them at their next meeting in two weeks.
- Allentown City Council is considering several changes to the city’s parking ordinances
- Parking issues have become a major point of contention for many residents in recent months
- The changes could be approved at council’s next meeting April 19
The proposed changes include allowing residents to park in some alleys, releasing impounded vehicles after owners set up a payment plan, and increasing the distance that cars can park from the curb without receiving a citation.
Bill 30 Parking Bill by LVNewsdotcom on Scribd
Council members will also consider removing all references to prison as a potential punishment for failing to pay parking tickets.
That’s been a key goal for Allentown Parking Authority board Chairman Ted Zeller in recent weeks.
The “Vehicles and Traffic” chapter of the Allentown City Code lists imprisonment as a potential consequence for 11 different violations, though only if citations are not paid.
The maximum jail sentence for almost all violations is 10 days, but residents could be sentenced to serve up to 90 days for not paying tickets related to abandoned vehicles, according to the city’s code.
If the proposed changes are approved, Allentown Parking Authority employees would be required to issue citations by hand, rather than by email or mail, if they can do so without putting themselves in danger.
'Action needed to be taken'
Council member Santo Napoli, who also serves on the parking authority’s board, said he is “ecstatic” to see officials acting quickly to respond to residents’ concerns.
The Allentown Parking Authority board started hearing more complaints from residents at its meeting in January and “really realized action needed to be taken” in February, Napoli said.
Allentown City Council is set to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, to talk about the proposed changes before voting the next week.
Napoli said he’s confident the ordinance changes will be approved at council’s April 19 meeting, though minor details could change before then.
The proposed ordinance changes are sponsored by six of the seven council members, signaling the package’s likely passage.
“I'm very happy that it's coming about actually faster than I thought it would."Betty Cauler, Allentown resident
Napoli said he believes the changes would address more than half of the complaints residents have voiced about parking in the city.
Internal policy changes at the parking authority could also eliminate a lot of residents’ frustrations, Napoli said.
Proposed policy changes at the parking authority say enforcers would issue warnings instead of citations for inspections that have been expired fewer than 30 days.
The agency also would rip up tickets if residents renew their registrations within 10 days of getting a ticket.
The Allentown Parking Authority plans to equip its vehicles with “warning sirens” to give people a chance to move their cars before employees write a ticket, according to Zeller.
The parking authority is also exploring payment plans and new software that would show enforcers if a vehicle had recently been ticketed.
Issues with some of the city’s parking ordinances became clear in recent months after the agency started enforcing them 24/7, Zeller said. The agency employs 33 enforcement officers, with 11 working each eight-hour shift.
Zeller suggested the parking authority could move some enforcers off the overnight shift and focus on public-safety issues and complaints from about 11 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Responding to residents
More than two dozen residents blasted the Allentown Parking Authority and said it was “out of control” during a public forum March 21 at the Americus Hotel.
Several Allentown entrepreneurs warned parking authority officials that their aggressive enforcement could put them out of work, with potential customers avoiding their businesses due to parking issues.
Some residents vented about how they’ve received multiple citations for the same violations, while others said they’ve been ticketed on private property.
The forum at the Americus Hotel was the latest in a series of public meetings where residents voiced concerns about predatory practices and over-ticketing by parking authority employees.
The agency’s board met less than 24 hours after the public forum and recommended the package of proposed parking changes to city council.
Zeller has said the changes could “lead to a better balance” between enforcing the city’s parking rules and addressing residents’ concerns.
Resident Betty Cauler has been pushing for several years to get the city to address parking issues.
She spoke at several meetings over the past few months and on Wednesday told the council a district judge threw out multiple citations she received from the parking authority.
After the meeting, she said she was surprised to see changes being considered so soon after a swell of residents started demanding them.
“I'm very happy that it's coming about actually faster than I thought it would,” she said.
Cauler credited Mayor Matt Tuerk for pushing the council to act, but Tuerk said the parking authority board deserves that praise.
City council members last month approved Tuerk's request for funding to analyze the parking authority’s structure and practices.
The study will examine the agency’s “unchecked power” and identify ways to make parking in Allentown more “equitable and efficient,” Tuerk said.
Honoring a 'trailblazer'
City council started its meeting Wednesday night by paying tribute to Harold Boyer, who died Sunday. He was 80.
Boyer became the Allentown Police Department’s first Black police officer in 1968 and served for more than 25 years, retiring as deputy assistant chief, Council President Daryl Hendricks said, reading a proclamation.
Boyer also served in the U.S. Army.
The proclamation said Boyer was a “role model noted for his people skills and took pride in helping people,” and he was “instrumental in developing community policing” in Allentown.
Hendricks served with Boyer in the police department. Boyer was “truly a pioneer,” Hendricks said, adding he’ll “always remember him for his kindness and his community service.”
Tuerk called Boyer a “legend” and a “trailblazer,” and he urged council to consider dedicating a city street or property to him in the future to “honor his legacy.”
Council member Ed Zucal said he’ll always remember Boyer’s smile, which is one “that you kind of never forgot.”
He was “one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Zucal said.
“Mark, you dad was an awesome man,” he told Boyer’s son.
