Parking changes adopted

This winter, Creston residents won’t have to worry as much about which side of the road to park on.

Creston City Council officially adopted amendments to chapters 69 and 70 regarding parking and snow removal.

With the adopted changes, alternate side street parking will only be required during a snow emergency. A snow emergency can not be placed into effect between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

When a snow emergency has been declared, street parking will follow the previous winter parking rules: Lasting from 1 to 7 a.m., residents must park on street sides where buildings bear even numbers (south and west sides) on even-numbered days of the week, and odd street sides on odd-numbered days.

Street parking in the uptown district is now more strict, with more streets added to the alternate parking required year-round. The streets bound by these rules include: Pine Street from Mills Street to Adams Street; Maple Street from Mills Street to Adams Street; Elm Street from Mills Street to Adams Street; Oak Street from Montgomery Street to Adams Street; Mills Street from Elm Street to Walnut Street; Montgomery Street from Walnut Street to Division Street; Adams Street from Walnut Street to New York Avenue; Adams Street, on the south side, from Pine Street to Walnut Street.

Fines for parking violations have also changed. Any improper parking during a snow emergency will result in a $100 fine. The fine was originally $25.

In other council news...

The council approved funding $19,000 to UCDA this year, $1,000 less than previous years. This was proposed by Councilmember Jocelyn Blazek, so the city and county funded the organization the same amount.

Creston Chamber of Commerce Director Ellen Gerharz shared the Paint Creston program has started for the year. Due to support from an anonymous donor, the number of homes painted in Creston this year is going from three to six. With the six homes this year, the Image Enhancement Committee will have painted close to 75 homes through the years.