difficulties public safety
equipment can have getting
through narrow residential
streets in Flossmoor. (Provided
photo)
Parking on the same side of the street as fire hydrants has been illegal on most Flossmoor streets for the last two months.
However ticketing for violations of new parking regulations — which was scheduled to begin Dec. 1 — is being postponed for a little while longer.
Deputy Police Chief Tod Kamleiter said recently that the village will continue its education campaign on one-side-only parking on most Flossmoor streets while portions of the new law are fine-tuned.
The new parking regulations went into effect Oct. 1. Before enforcement begins, village officials want residents to be aware of the new law’s two main features: in most neighborhoods, parking will only be allowed on the non-hydrant side, and no street parking will be permitted following snowfalls of two inches or more.
Since October, police officers have been putting informational cards on the windshields of vehicles that are parked on the wrong side of the street. As the education campaign continues, Kamleiter said police are ready to begin issuing warning notices to drivers who are illegally parked.
Under the new law, the one-side-only provision is in effect in most residential neighborhoods. Areas that are close to schools, churches and parks are exempt from the parking ban, and so is the Flossmoor downtown business district.
In calling for the new regulations, police and fire officials said parking on both sides of the street produces a hazard to emergency vehicles that are responding to calls.
Before ticketing starts, village officials are dealing with individual streets where special provisions under the new parking lot may be needed, Kamleiter said. Specific signage may be necessary for those streets, which include cul-de-sacs and areas where there is a great deal of parking for school-related events.
However, Kamleiter added that enforcement of the snow parking ban goes into effect when more than two inches of snow falls in Flossmoor. After the first snow storm this year on Nov. 21, there were no violations of the on-street parking ordinance, he said.
