OGDEN — A freshly amended city parking ordinance got its first major test over the last couple of weeks — a test that will set the stage for how it’s enforced the rest of the winter season.

Earlier this month, the Ogden City Council passed an amendment to its parking ordinance to “prohibit on-street parking when it is snowing or when snow removal is apparent or imminent, or when there is an accumulation of snow or ice of one inch or more.”

Under the new ordinance, exemptions would include:

• Roads that are controlled by the state of Utah.
• Those roads designated by the mayor as having inadequate off-street parking.
• Properties with no driveway approach.

According to Public Services Operations Manager Vincent Ramos, the amendment was intended to overcome shortcomings in the original ordinance.

“In the previous ordinance, it kind of had a loophole where as long as plow trucks can go by, it seemed people could park there on the side of the road,” he said.

The amendment was originally passed Jan. 9, and within two weeks, the region had experienced a handful of storms, including last Wednesday’s early morning blast of snow.

Ramos said Wednesday was the first big test of the amended ordinance.

“This last snow storm, especially on (Jan. 17), it was kind of brutal the way it hit,” he said. “We were running around quite a bit. As far as cars, there seemed to be quite a bit of cars out there. This was our first time really monitoring it, so these numbers we’re kind of recording.”

He said 240 notices were handed out to cars parked on the side of the road.

“What they were was just warnings to kind of let them know there’s a new ordinance, be aware of this,” he said. “One thing we promised the council — we weren’t going to be too strict; we kind of wanted to get numbers and let them know. This year is kind of a year to educate our residents.”

Ramos said this largely will be the standard for the rest of the current winter season as crews monitor compliance with the amended ordinance.

“For the rest of this season, we’re going to educate the public,” he said. “We’re going to do the same thing — hand out (a) notice and let them know this is what’s coming.”

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