The Dolores Town board continues to struggle with a parking ordinance, and is calling for more public participation in the decision-making process.

"We want to hear from the public on this, but nobody is coming to the meetings like they used to," said board member Ginger Black-Swope.

A Monday public hearing on the matter was continued until Sept. 14, at 6:30 p.m. Additional discussion on the matter will take place at the board workshop on Aug. 24, also at 6:30 p.m.

The crux of an ongoing debate is a section in the ordinance's first draft that reaffirmed a current law requiring parallel parking in most of the town, except for certain areas downtown.

For decades, it was recently learned, residents have been illegally parking diagonally, or angled, in front of their homes and businesses.

But the habit is causing problems for the town road crew during maintenance jobs and snow removal.

"It's not just during snow removal that we have problems," said interim manager Lana Hancock. "During (regular road maintenance) vehicles are in the way, and we cannot maneuver equipment around them."

Others expressed concerns that enforcing a parallel parking law goes against a popular parking style, reduces already limited parking in town, and is not applied fairly because some downtown areas are allowed to have angled parking.

As a compromise, a second draft of the ordinance was amended to allow angled parking throughout town, except in winter to accommodate for snow plowing and removal.

It was changed from a widespread ban on angled parking in residential areas year-round, to allow it "except from November 1 through April 30 yearly."

Year-round angled parking would continue on Fourth St. between Central and Highway 145, Central Avenue between Fourth and Fifth Streets (south side only), Fifth Street between Central Avenue and Highway 145 (both sides), and Sixth Street between Central Avenue and Highway 145 (both sides).

Parking laws need to be black-and-white and well communicated to the public, said Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin, whose deputies cover Dolores.

"Getting a ticket should not be a surprise for the resident or a guess for the officer," he said.

A suggested policy of officer discretion on issuing tickets can lead to problems, for example, when one person parked angled gets a ticket, but another nearby does not.

Law officials said clear and fair enforcement of parking laws is key to avoid costly appeals, which can even lead to a trial.

"If people feel wronged, they will go all the way to try and prove it," said town attorney Mike Green.

At any rate, the town is urging the public to park parallel year-round, and at the very least during the winter season, so streets can be better maintained.

If the ordinance passes, Nowlin agreed that warnings would be issued for at least the first year to allow residents to get used to parking differently.

"I think a parking ordinance needs to be tailored to Dolores, and we want to hear people's ideas on it," said Black-Swope.

Proposed ordinance No. 522 is an overall ammendment to the Dolores Municipal Code to make it consistent with the Colorado Model Traffic Code adopted by the town.

jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com