At last week’s Lake Orion Village Council meeting, council members heard the first reading of a proposed amendment that would allow for shorter parking times in designated slots downtown.
This proposal, called Ordinance 7.11, stems from a request from the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Board to consider the establishment of 20-minute parking spaces in downtown.
‘Right now, the current ordinance allows for two-hour parking in downtown,? said Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel, noting that Ordinance 7.11 would not create new parking time limits, but merely allow the possibility of creating and adopting them in the future.
‘Although this came to the council with a 20-minute request from the DDA for certain spaces, even if this ordinance, as presented, were adopted, that would by itself not change any rules,? said Village Attorney Gary Dovre.
‘It would take a separate council resolution that identifies spaces for a shorter time limit and that time limit wouldn’t have to be 20 minutes, or quite frankly, it could be anything between one minute and two hours.?
According to Dovre, should the council decide to develop new parking time limits for designated spots, by adopting Ordinance 7.11, the council ‘would have an ordinance on the books to facilitate it.?
The next step, according to Van Tassel, is for the ordinance to have its second reading and for council to hear any public comment on the issue. This is set for the Monday, July 23, 2007 council meeting, and Ordinance 7.11 has the possibility of being adopted that night.