Some changes to the parking policy in the City of Knox were made official this week.
One of the major differences that citizens will notice is the new fee associated with parking violations.
Before making the amendment, the city’s policy stated people would be charged $5 for a first and second offense and then $20 for a third offense.
However, since many residents weren’t taken the $5 fine seriously and it was difficult for officials to continuously track how many times a particular person was cited, the policy was changed. It now reads that violators will be charged $25 for first and any subsequent offenses.
An amendment was also made to the section entitled parking adjacent to schools.
The change authorizes the City Council to erect signage indicating ‘no parking’ or ‘residential parking only’ on any street adjacent to a school property when such parking would, in the opinion of the Council, interfere with traffic, create a hazardous situation or impede a residential parking place.
Before the amendment, the language only allowed for the installation of ‘no parking’ signs.
Members took action to suspend the rules at their meeting Tuesday evening so the amended ordinance could be approved on all three reading and adopted.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston noted that the changes must be published in the paper so they won’t technically go into effect until 30 days after the publication.
Click the following link to view the approved parking policy amendments.
