KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — The Kalamazoo City Commission voted Monday night to update an ordinance related to parking in downtown Kalamazoo.
Several changes were made to the current ordinance, including allowing overnight street permit parking, eliminating language in the ordinance setting hours for meter operations and raising the maximum amount that can be charged per hour.
Changes were brought back to the city commission after some concerns about the timing with construction happening in downtown. Most of those concerns were alleviated Monday night but one commissioner was still concerned the changes give too much power to the city’s traffic engineer.
Kalamazoo votes to pause updates to city’s parking ordinance
“That says the traffic engineer can decide we’re going to have charge people from 6 o’clock in the morning to 10 o’clock at night and that doesn’t have to come back to us. He can say we’re going to have no 90-minute free parking on any street that he wants and I think that’s too much power for him. I think these are important issues for the city and they should be decided by the people who are representing the city up here,” said city commissioner Don Cooney.