A commercial parking curfew between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2 a.m. was among the items Cape Coral City Council gave a nod to Wednesday.
Other areas of approval for the drafted parking ordinance include a “two-hour allowance of commercial vehicles parked on property abutting the right-of-way where no less than 12 feet of paved right-of-way remains available for the free movement of vehicle traffic,” as well an immediate issuance of the enforcement of penalty violations.
City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner said the proposal for times are based on comments of individuals driving their commercial vehicles to a restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then possibly visiting some of the bars that are open until 2 a.m.
Council took a consensus on what times they want commercial vehicles to be allowed to park in specifically marked and designated line parking in city rights-of-way on city streets.
Boksner said any type of violation accompanied by a parking enforcement specialist or police officer results in a uniformed parking violation or citation and carries its own monetary fine.
“Enforcement occurs on a much quicker scale,” he said.
Cape Coral Police Department Chief Anthony Sizemore said there is a maximum of four contract employees to cover 120 square miles in the parking enforcement specialized group. He said there are two separate types of parking – CRA commercial vehicles and time limits and then the remainder of the city with semi-truck parking and quality of life enforcement.
“If we find we are having a real issue downtown with people trying to circumvent outdoor storage and find loopholes in the ordinance, we can tailor the scheduling and we have officers that can do it,” Sizemore said.
The drafted ordinance will come back before the council.
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