BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Home improvement expert Bob Vila has at least 12 uses for chalk, besides helping students learn in an old-fashioned classroom. Enforcing parking time limits can no longer be one of them, after a ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week.
“After seeing the news last week of this ruling, I immediately asked city attorney Tom Ryan to determine if we need to stop chalking tires,” said City Manager Jonathan Smith. “Tom responded on Thursday, confirming that yes, we need to stop chalking tires and find another method.”
That method will be to use a feature of the Passport Parking Enforcement App the city subscribed to last year when paid parking was initiated, Smith said.
“The app allows the enforcement officer to digitally record a vehicle’s license plate and the position of one of its tires via the camera on the phone the city has supplied to the enforcement officer,” the city manager said. “This methodology will be more time consuming than chalking, but it is a legal and viable alternative. It will be used on Main Street, Mill Street and other areas with a time limit, other than the paid lot.”
According to the ruling, which stemmed from a case filed by Alison Taylor in Saginaw, marking tires with chalk to keep track of how long a vehicle is parked violates the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches.
That means Saginaw and other cities using the practice in Michigan, including Clarkston, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, can no longer do so.
City Council will be informed of the methodology change at their May 13 meeting, he said.
Other uses of chalk, as found at Bobvila.com, include silverware polish, pewter and marble finish polish, stain remover, rust preventative, odor eater, ceiling stain, wood sanding aid, ant repellent, furniture placement aid, metal file cleaner, lock lubricant, and fire pit safety marking.