The topic of vehicles obstructing sidewalks has been discussed during council items at a few Knox City Council meetings recently.
In past meetings council members discussed the possibility of creating an ordinance to prohibit parking on sidewalks. At their meeting last Tuesday, Council Member Jeff Berg presented everyone with an existing ordinance that addresses side walk obstruction.
The ordinance he presented states that no person shall erect or maintain any structure which is attached to, secured on, or located upon a sidewalk. Furthermore, it says that upon notice from the City of Knox, a person shall remove any structure that is attached to or rests upon any sidewalk within 30 days of said notice.
One concern raised by council members was that the language says “structures” and doesn’t specify about the presence vehicles, which could potentially lead to some problems further down the line. Council members also stated that violators should be able to alleviate the issue in less than a month.
Mayor Estok presented a plan to more forward with addressing the reported parking problems, “Instead of writing a whole new ordinance we can modify this one to say in plain English vehicles and also get rid of the 30 days.”
No official actions were taken but the possibility of amending the ordinance will be further considered at future city council meetings.
