City Council Update, August 12, 2024

At Council this week: Holiday Lights Parade, overnight parking, website update, AirBnB, bag tags, the cost of misinformation, and more.

Holiday Lights Parade and Civic Events

Council approved the Holiday Lights Parade and Tree Lighting. The parade will be held on Saturday, December 7 starting at 5:30 PM, followed immediately by the tree lighting ceremony and visits with Santa for the children. There are volunteer and sponsorship opportunities. Contact [email protected] for more info.

Council also discussed the need to set a more precise policy on what to charge for civic events.

We estimate that it costs the city at least $100,000 across all of these events. All of them, except for CruiseFest, are run by private organizations. We recognize the need to capture costs incurred by the city while keeping it affordable enough for the events we love to continue. We will continue this conversation in the future.

Overnight Parking

Council approved a parking policy for overnight parking. We average 150 cars on the street each night, and this is part of a comprehensive overhaul of the system to get them off the street. The city will roll out the program in the coming months, but highlights include:

Overnight parking fines will increase from $10 to $50.
Stricter enforcement of parking across the sidewalk.
Overnight parking will now be prohibited from 2 AM to 5 AM (previously 6 AM). This helps shift workers but still gets cars off the street.
Everyone may still get free, temporary parking permits. It is now limited to 15 per license plate per year.
There will be an online portal for requesting temporary permits. Your license plate acts as your pass.
Annual overnight parking passes can be purchased for $400 for homes with a qualifying hardship. The conditions and qualifications are in the parking policy.

Some homes have one or no parking spaces, and some temporary family situations result in more cars than spaces. With the increased parking fine the costs for these families could be devastating, so we needed a safety net. The overnight parking permit serves that purpose.

We are attempting to balance resident need with the amount of staff resources necessary to administer the program. Council will receive frequent updates and this system is designed so that if things are not working as anticipated, changes can be made quickly.

Website Update

A short presentation was given on the upcoming website update. It should be live later this month. Besides making it easier to find information, it will include the ability to apply for common permits and schedule inspections online.

Short-Term Rentals (AirBnB)

Council directed staff to look at changes to our short-term rental legislation to help prevent rentals from becoming nuisance party houses.

Yard Waste Collection Review

At my request, council agreed to direct staff to review our yard waste pickup program at the end of the season. We will re-evaluate the entire program, including bag tags.

CruiseFest

CruiseFest is this Friday, August 16. The parade starts at 6:30 PM with entertainment starting afterwards at approximately 7:30 PM. Official CruiseFest T-shirts will be available for purchase for $20 by the marquee.

The Cost of Misinformation

The city published a letter about misinformation that has been circulating regarding the city's finances and where to look for official city information.

And this is a reminder that I'm not an official source of city news. I'm only doing my best to try and share timely and accurate information. There are links below to official city resources.