The City Council approved an amendment to the city’s parking ordinance Monday night that will allow visitor parking passes for residents who do not qualify for the city’s on-street parking program.
“This is an old ordinance that we did a couple of years ago so that when a new developer will come into the city, they will say they are not bringing cars, they are commuting, they are using the T,” said Councilor-at-Large Damali Vidot. “But what they do is, they get relief from parking, but people who live in the building are still parking on the street. So we put this ordinance in place to put your money where your mouth is; if people are not meeting parking (requirements) they will not qualify for the public on-street parking.”
But when the council passed that ordinance, Vidot said, what the city failed to do was create a way that those residents would be able to get visitor parking passes.
“So this doesn’t change that ordinance, it just adds to it,” said Vidot. “We want to add this to our existing ordinance so that folks who are not participating in our on-street parking program can still have visitors come and visit.”
In other business, District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor said that there has been an uptick in drug activity in the city recently, and asked residents to be active in reporting crime.
“In my district, there is a lot of scooter action, and a lot of people calling saying that they are seeing a lot of activity in Prattville,” said Taylor. “I want to let the people know that if you see something, please say something. Let’s tamp this down right away.”
Taylor said he has talked to several other councilors about issues in other parts of the city, as well.
He said that if residents don’t want to call the police, they can at least contact their councilor so they can help get the issue under control.
“I know the Chelsea Police Department does a great job, but we all need to work together to tamp this down; they can’t be everywhere at once,” said Taylor.