Chamber sought clarification on downtown Grand Marais winter parking
Nov 20, 2019 01:32PM ● By Editor
From the Cook County Chamber of Commerce - November 20, 2019
On Tuesday, the City of Grand Marais placed warning fliers on the windshields of cars parked on the even side of city streets -- including cars parked between Highway 61 and the harbor in downtown Grand Marais. The fliers notified drivers they were violating the city's new "calendar parking" ordinance, which restricts parking to the odd side of the street on odd numbered days and the even side on even days.
On Tuesday, the City of Grand Marais placed warning fliers on the windshields of cars parked on the even side of city streets -- including cars parked between Highway 61 and the harbor in downtown Grand Marais. The fliers notified drivers they were violating the city's new "calendar parking" ordinance, which restricts parking to the odd side of the street on odd numbered days and the even side on even days.
The fliers caused significant consternation on the part of numerous merchants, who said they understood the calendar parking regulations would not apply downtown.
When the issue was raised by members of the Grand Marais Business Coalition, a Cook County Chamber group, Chamber executive director Jim Boyd inquired of the city.
Boyd then wrote to city merchants that, "At least two City Council members say that the council's intention was never to apply the calendar parking to downtown and that the Tuesday fliers should not have been distributed there. Because the ordinance language is unclear, the council will revisit this topic sometime soon. It is expected that the council will exempt downtown from calendar parking and instead simply prohibit overnight parking on any of the downtown streets. Almost always, city crews clean snow from downtown streets in the middle of the night.
"Meanwhile, the best advice the city has for those who park downtown is this: If it appears likely the city will need to clear away the snow, keep your cars off the downtown streets overnight. If snow removal is not required, no worries; park as usual."
