Parking enforcement grows teeth

If you choose to park head-in on Main Avenue, it could cost you.

The Deschutes County Sheriff will now be able to issue a $25 ticket for anyone parked illegally in an otherwise designated parking space.

The city council passed an ordinance Thursday amending Sisters code section 10.20 concerning parking regulation. Until Thursday the only code covering parking was as a Class D misdemeanor, which carries a $110 fine. Everybody involved thought that was excessive, so the council landed on the $25 ticket.

Violations will include backing in to a front-in diagonal parking space or parking front-in in a designated back-in parking space, such as on Main Avenue.

This action raises the ante for those refusing to park "properly" on Main Avenue, most notably in the block that includes Angeline's Bakery and the Habitat for Humanity Thrift store.

Captain Eric Utter, the officer responsible for the Deschutes County Sheriff's Sisters office said, "The responsibility of the sheriff's office is to enforce the laws of the land. The new parking situation is just that: it is new. Our initial position was to educate and not to penalize. We wanted people to have the opportunity to adjust to the new law and to comply voluntarily."

Captain Utter said it comes down to a safety issue. He used the example of someone on Cascade pulling across the flow of traffic to park against traffic on the 'wrong' side of the street. Most would agree that is a dangerous tactic and should be cited.

The big question remained: When will the sheriff's office begin issuing citations with fines?

"We will enforce the law, and we will continue to utilize a balance of enforcement strategies," said Utter. "If I see somebody park (illegally) I may have the opportunity to have a conversation with them. We will continue to issue warnings, and once we are ready to do so we will issue

citations."

Local citations are handled by the Justice Court of Judge Chuck Fadeley.

Utter continued, "We have been having a dialogue with Judge Fadeley ... to work to create a different citation. It is not a uniform traffic citation; it is more basic. It is easier on the officers, easier on the courts, more convenient for the citizens and less expensive for all. Redmond and Bend utilize a similar system for parking violations."

Utter said, "We are building the template and we will start enforcing as soon as that citation is ready. We expect to have that in place in about 30 days."