The Austin City Council is looking into possible new winter parking regulations after discussing the matter during its regular work session Monday evening.

The city declared four snow emergencies this past winter, the most since the winter of 2000-2001. The city’s current snow emergency ordinance states that parking in the business areas of Austin is prohibited between 1-8 a.m. during a 72-hour enactment period. Business areas include midtown Austin, Sterling Shopping Center, the East Side business area and the Hormel Plant area. During snow emergencies, the even/odd parking rule is in effect, meaning that vehicles must be parked on the side of the street with even addresses on even dates and on the side of the street with odd addresses on odd dates during the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 a.m. the following day.

With the heavy snow this past winter, residents not following the even/odd parking rule prevented plows from effectively clearing the streets. The build-up of snow narrowed neighborhood streets, making it difficult for large vehicles such as buses, fire engines and ambulances to get through.

Austin Police Capt. David McKichan said the APD issued more tickets than they could process.

McKichan and Austin Fire Chief Jim McCoy, with the support of Street Superintendent Joe Sunderman, asked the council to consider the possibility of implementing winter parking regulations from set dates, regardless of snowfall, as a means to condition residents to get in the habit of parking accordingly.

City Engineer Steven Lang provided examples from other cities such as Owatonna, which requires even/odd parking from Nov. 15 through March 31, and Faribault, which does not allow parking on city streets from 1-8 a.m. Nov. 1 through April 1.

The council voted 6-1 to refer to city staff to look into a possible ordinance to effect parking changes, which the council will review at a future work session. Councilman Jason Baskin cast the lone dissenting vote.

Lang also presented the idea of increasing the amount of salt in the salt/sand mixture used to melt snow and create traction on roads from 10 percent to 50 percent or 100 percent as a means to make snow melt quicker. He also gave the option of hiring more staff and getting more plows to allow for quicker clearance of city streets. The council found both options cost prohibitive.

Administrative Services Director Tom Dankert provided the council with a preliminary budget for 2020 during the work session. The preliminary budget calls for a tax levy increase of 4.03 percent, primarily consisting of funds to be set aside for the planned implementation of phase two of the compensation and classification study (City Administrator Craig Clark said they plan to implement the study’s findings this fall) and for capital increase.

Dankert cited an increase in Local Government Aid (LGA) in 2020 as a reason for a lower tax levy increase.

The council will review the budget for further changes before setting a tax levy by Sept. 30, after which they may lower the tax levy, but are not allowed to raise it. Mayor Tom Stiehm urged the council to make sure the tax levy does not increase above 4.03 percent.

Planning and Zoning Director Holly Wallace gave an update on the Rental Housing Ordinance that went into effect Jan. 1. Wallace said the overall response from city landlords has been good, with most getting licensed.

As of June 2019, the city has conducted 775 inspections of rental properties. Of those, 57 percent have failed inspections. The northwest has had the most inspections at 647, with 299 passing and 348 failing. Of those, 132 have been re-inspected.