Parking Ban

Questions: Does the parking ban from 2:00 am to 6:00 am really make a difference?

Answer from Karen “KC” Cassese, Dispatcher, and Kate McLaughlin, Community Policing Unit.  Euclid has many ordinances to keep our neighborhoods safe and appealing in appearance. Prohibiting vehicles from parking between the hours of 2:00 am and 6:00 am is one of those ordinances.  There are good reasons for this parking ban.  If you abolish this ban it would permit vehicles to park 24 hours on our streets, which creates several safety and quality of life issues.

A major concern is that permitting 24 hour parking would turn our city streets into parking lots.  Once vehicle owners are allowed to use the streets for parking, we will see an increase in the number of cars parked in front of homes.  There would be an increase in abandoned vehicles, broken-down vehicles, and stolen vehicles left in the street.  From a safety perspective this creates an issue for identification. Which license plates should officers run and which cars should be towed?  Also, cars left in the street are more vulnerable to auto theft and auto break-ins than if parked in the owner’s garage or driveway.

Think of a day when someone on your street was having a party.  Vehicles are parked in front of every house.  Allowing this would not be the best appearance for our city streets.   Multiple parked vehicles creates blind spots where a driver’s view would be blocked when children run out from between the cars, and creates a barrier for suspects to hide from police.

Besides safety issues, 24 hour parking would create neighborhood inconveniences.  Cars and delivery vehicles would occasionally have to double park.  Snow plowing and leaf pick up would be difficult, if not impossible, and the new mechanical garbage trucks would not be able to access the cans.  Also, some residents would forgo their driveways to park multiple vehicles in the street.  What if one resident parked four or more vehicles, or had several guests staying who all parked in the street?  This would take up spots that neighbors might like to use in front of their homes, and could cause neighbor trouble issues. 

Suggesting a parking ban during daytime hours from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm would create a whole new set of issues.  More people are out driving around during the daylight hours and a ban would restrict business activity.  Postal, delivery and construction vehicles need street parking, as well as those who use their personal vehicles for business.  A daytime parking ban would cause a greater inconvenience than a late evening parking ban.

Euclid is fortunate that most homes have garages and long driveways to accommodate several cars.  It is the responsibility of home owners to keep all vehicles secure on their property rather than parked in the street.  Euclid residents should take pride in parking vehicles in driveways to keep our neighborhoods safe and appealing looking.

If you would like to submit a question to Ask An Officer, contact Community Policing at the Euclid Police Department:  email kmclaughlin@cityofeuclid.com or call 216-289-8449.