City looks to stop parking on the grass
A new city ordinance will look to curb parking on the grass adjacent to city streets.
Soon it will be illegal to park on the grass in Columbia Falls, even in front of your own house.
Last week the Columbia Falls City council completed a first reading of an ordinance that would make it illegal to stop, stand or park a vehicle “on any front or side yard unless hard packed gravel, asphalt or cement driveway parking spaces are provided.”
The new law comes after residents complained that people were parking on the grass not only in front of their own homes, but in front of other people’s homes, in some cases, damaging landscaping and breaking off sprinkler heads.
The city is also cracking down on storing items like boats and trailers on city streets.
The new ordinance would make it illegal for people to park trailers, boats, RVs, campers and the like “unless it is in constant use.”
Campers that aren’t used at least once every 48 hours will be considered in storage and will be in violation of city code.
The council will make a second reading of the ordinance at its Aug. 7 meeting.
No one spoke against the ordinance at the last council meeting.
The city has had a perennial problem with parking on the grass because the bulk of the city’s streets don’t have curbs and gutters. Other cities, like Kalispell and Whitefish, don’t have as great a problem, city leaders have noted in the past, because most of their streets have curbs.
The city law, could, however, cause more people to simply gravel their front yards for additional parking, rather than maintain a landscape.
Police Chief Clint Peters said from his perspective, the law would be enforced on a complaint basis.
Police don’t intend to immediately start ticketing violators.