ORANGE : Street Sweeping Still Causes Parking Woes

It’s been seven months since the city began ticketing parked cars that block street-sweeping vehicles and, while officials say residents are slowly getting used to restricted parking hours on street-sweeping days, there are still plenty of angry folks.

Even though fewer of the $30 tickets are being issued, city sanitation officials say they receive as many as 10 complaints about restricted parking each week.

At last week’s City Council session, a progress report on the ticketing program was given and sanitation officials had a chance to answer critics.

One common gripe is that in some areas, parking is restricted on both sides of the street on the same day, making it difficult for residents to find parking during street-sweeping hours.

The problem is worse for residents who use garages and driveways for uses other than parking.

“When people don’t use their garages and they get their parking spaces taken away, it’s a shock,” Councilwoman Joanne Coontz said.

Sweeping both sides of the street on the same day is done only in areas where residents have ample off-street parking, sanitation officials said. Parts of the historic district in downtown--where some homes don’t have driveways--are subject to alternate-side-of-the-street parking bans and are swept over a two-day period.

Sanitation supervisor John Loertscher said that the scheduled sweeping and parking bans are needed to ensure that all residential areas in the city are cleaned. He opposes offering alternate-side-of-the-street bans in more areas because sweeping streets on separate days costs more and would require new signs.

Loertscher said the program was instituted with warnings, and citations were issued only after no-parking signs were installed and flyers were sent to residents. In addition, he said, he personally investigates whenever a resident challenges a parking ticket.

Officials also shot down a suggestion that the city sell permits allowing residents to park on their street during sweeping days.

“It’s a touchy issue,” Loertscher said in an interview. Such permits might bring charges of “discriminatory enforcement” of parking rules, which could lead to lawsuits.

Despite the complaints, officials said the sweeping program is working well.

Neighborhoods that are regularly cleaned are less likely to experience flooding during rainstorms because the debris that clogs storm drains is collected by the sweepers.

Coontz said the parking rules have also helped authorities identify abandoned cars. “I think it helped tidy up some parts of the community,” she said.

Orange’s residential areas are swept once a week, usually the day after garbage is collected. Several commercial areas are cleaned less frequently.