City parking changes lack enforcement

Without consequences, it’s unlikely people will follow 2-hour rule

Finding parking in downtown Yuma isn’t the easiest task, especially when looking for onstreet parking. The spaces are often already occupied, leaving incoming people to park either in a city lot or further away on another street.

Businesses have complained about the problem as well, the City of Yuma notes, reporting the same cars parked in front of their businesses day in and day out.

In response, the city is implementing two-hour parking time limits on some city streets in the downtown area.

The impacted streets are as follows:

• 2nd Street between 2nd Avenue and Gila Street

• Court Street between 2nd Avenue and 1st Avenue

• 3rd Street between Madison Avenue and Gila Street

The city will start with a two-week grace period to inform motorists about the change. Then, starting on Nov. 15, the two-hour time limit will be in effect between 7 a.m. and

5 p.m. on weekdays.

In theory, it sounds like this could work, encouraging drivers to move their cars and not “hog” the spots for long periods of time.

But then, the Yuma Sun reached out to the city to find out what happens if a car overstays its welcome.

We were surprised to learn the answer is … absolutely nothing.

The goal is to encourage downtown workers and all-day visitors to park in the larger lots, and the city is hoping that signage along the streets in question will make that happen.

But the city told the Yuma Sun there is no penalty or ticketing that will happen to those who stay longer than two hours, nor will there be anyone patrolling the streets looking for violators and issuing tickets.

For now, the city is basically working on the honor system.

Clearly, there’s a problem with parking downtown. The city is taking the first steps toward a solution by putting out signage, and for some, those signs will be enough to encourage a shift to the city parking lots.

But for others, this is an action that lacks any consequence. Don’t want to move your car? There’s nothing to make you do so – and that in turn may lead people to simply ignore the signage, defeating the purpose entirely.

While we hope drivers will obey the signs, we suspect most will simply ignore them, which is unfortunate – and a waste of taxpayer dollars, albeit a small amount.

What do you think, readers? Should the city add actual enforcement to these signs or no? Is the city on the right track with this parking move? Let us know. Share your thoughts – send in a Letter to the Editor at letters@yumasun.com.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.