Betz: Lansing City Council must repeal overnight parking ban

The new permit program for overnight parking in Lansing may come to an end almost before it can even be enforced.

Lansing City Councilman Brandon Betz this week introduced an ordinance amendment to repeal a citywide ban on street parking from 2-5 a.m., enabling residents to park overnight in local neighborhoods all year long. And if passed by the City Council, residents will no longer be asked to pay for on-street parking.

“This is a highly inequitable ordinance,” Betz explained. “It affects people with lower incomes more than those with higher incomes. And people with lower incomes are more likely to live in a situation without adequate parking. Especially on the east side, we just have a lot of people who cannot afford a $125 annual permit.” Betz represents the 1st Ward, which includes the east side.

City officials for years have struggled to enforce a 2-5 a.m. ban on street parking. After several months of planning, the City Council identified a solution last year: Ramp up enforcement and introduce permits to cover the costs, clearing city streets and only allowing those who need the space and pay the annual fees to park.

The new permit system — at least in theory — would’ve allowed the city to recoup the costs of added overnight enforcement through the annual fees. It was designed to take effect on March 1, but it has since been suspended amid a citywide coronavirus state of emergency.

And Betz is determined to ensure the paid permit system never actually resumes.

“We’re charging people who just cannot afford to pay the fees,” Betz added. “This also disproportionately impacts people of color and younger people in the city. And if there’s something I don’t like, it’s inequitable laws. I might not have a problem with something else, but this ordinance is hurting people now. We can work through the process to find something better for parking, but that’ll take too long. This needs to go away now.”

Enforcing the existing overnight parking ban without permits could have been messy and expensive. Many older homes weren’t built to accommodate multiple vehicles. More landlords are splicing properties into apartments without creating parking spaces for tenants. In many neighborhoods, the street is the only option for parking.

The permits were designed to prevent an unyielding ban on overnight parking, which would have given tickets to those who’ve parked curbside for years without issue and offer no immediate alternatives. And besides, the city still can’t afford to ramp up parking enforcement by relying on existing ticket revenue alone, officials have said.

Eliminating the overnight ban altogether — as Betz is now suggesting — had also been discussed, but perceived problems with navigating fire rigs or ambulances down overcrowded residential streets stopped the conversation from advancing. Fire Chief Michael Mackey has since said he hasn’t had any problems with emergency traffic.

“People that still support this ordinance have said they just don’t believe the fire chief because they’ve talked to actual firefighters,” Betz said. “I think there’s some valid concerns about access for snow plows, but the language about snow emergencies in my ordinance would add a little more power to remove cars if we need to do that.”

Betz’ proposed ordinance would still enable the city to clear streets overnight to make room for snow plows.

He said only a few “squeaky wheels” — namely residents complaining about cars parked for extended periods on their block — have driven the conversation on overnight parking. He said most residents, particularly those in the First Ward, don’t have any problems with cars parked on their neighborhood streets from 2-5 a.m.

“It’s important we do something to stop this before tickets start piling up on these folks,” Betz added.

The draft ordinance still needs to make its way through the Council’s Committee on Public Safety — and eventually the full City Council — before it can replace the city’s existing paid permitting system. Given the citywide state of emergency, Betz said it’ll likely be more than a month before the changes can be explored.

In the meantime, however, Betz has been gauging support among his colleagues and suspects at least four other Council members will support the changes — clinching its passage when it eventually goes up for a Council vote. He also said Lansing Mayor Andy Schor (among others) had asked for him to submit the upcoming revisions.

“The conversation about eliminating the ban did not come up, and it was my understanding that the votes to eliminate were not there,” Schor said of prior Council discussions. “If that has changed and the votes are there I am willing to support elimination as long as we can still take action to clear streets when there are snow events.”

Visit lansingcitypulse.com for previous and continued coverage on overnight parking restrictions in Lansing.