New parking fines begin Sunday
"The merchants of Ketchum have
requested two-hour parking for their customers. Therefore it makes sense
that we leave the two-hour areas for customers, not the merchants,
business owners or employees."
Beverly Hedin’ - Ketchum Police Department code
enforcement officer
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Beginning Sunday, Ketchum will institute new, steeper
parking fines for the city’s two-hour parking zones.
The new fines are designed to free two-hour parking for
customers of downtown businesses. They are the result of extensive
discussion among Ketchum City Council members and area business owners
this winter.
"The merchants of Ketchum have requested two-hour
parking for their customers," said Ketchum Police Department code
enforcement officer Beverly Hedin. "Therefore it makes sense that we
leave the two-hour areas for customers, not the merchants, business owners
or employees."
The fine structure will be as follows:
-
The first citation issued to a vehicle will be a
warning.
-
The second citation will carry a $10 fine, the third a
$20 fine and the fourth a $40 fine.
-
All other two-hour citations will cost $40 until a
vehicle goes for one year without being cited.
-
Failure to pay a parking citation within fifteen days
from the date of issue will result in a $5 late fee.
For vehicles where three or more parking tickets are
unpaid, and one or more are over 90 days delinquent, the vehicle will be
towed at the owner’s expense upon receipt of the next ticket.
People in danger of having their vehicles towed will
receive certified letters from the police department stating the total
debt and offering an opportunity to make good on the debt.
Previously the city’s two-hour parking citations carried
$10 fines.
"Please keep in mind," Hedin said, "that
you are allowed one two-hour period per posted block side per day. If you
leave before your two hours has expired and then return to the same area,
you must park on another block or on the other side of the same
block."
