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If you take a look at this area, you will see that the grass is gone and it is a <br />muddy mess (this was true even before they started grading the site for <br />Menards). The erosion was caused by all of the vehicle traffic on this <br />formerly grassy location. Staff visited the site this spring to investigate the <br />vehicles for sale in the ROW and found that the traffic problems associated <br />with that site are tremendous. It is an unsafe area for interested people to <br />pull over and take a look at the vehicles for sale. If they drive up next to the <br />vehicles on the grass, they are contributing to the erosion problem, and if <br />they try to park on the street or highway they are blocking traffic. <br /> <br />The same issues arise when residents park vehicles for sale on private <br />property. They may still be contributing to the erosion problem by parking <br />on the landscaped area and may cause safety or visibility problems if they <br />park the vehicles on the corner of their lots or in the ROW. This issue is <br />addressed, to some extent, in our zoning ordinance by prohibiting parking on <br />landscaped areas, but staff believes it is important to address it in the <br />parking section of Chapter 11 as well. <br /> <br />Analysis <br /> <br />The city has had limited success in resolving these parking issues. Part of <br />the problem is that the zoning department frequently gets the complaint <br />calls, but we have a limited ability to resolve the problems. The zoning <br />department can try to contact the vehicle owners and ask them to move the <br />vehicles, but we have limited ability to enforce it. On the other hand, the <br />police department has the power to tag the offending vehicles and have them <br />towed. I spoke to Chief Zerwas and he believes that this ordinance would be <br />most effective if the police have the power to tag violators. Therefore, staff is <br />recommending that the parking regulations in Chapter 11 be amended. <br /> <br />I have contacted a number of other cities to find out how they deal with the <br />issue of vehicle sales on public and private property. In most of these cities, <br />this issue is a police issue and not a zoning issue. Blaine, Fridley and <br />Mounds View all have essentially the same ordinance. Staff in these cities <br />seem to be happy with this ordinance from both a zoning and a police <br />standpoint: These cities have found the ordinance to be complete and legally <br />sound. I have included a copy for your review. <br /> <br />S:\PLANNING\KENDRA\OA96-07.DOC <br /> <br /> <br />