The temperature has cooled, leaves have fallen from the trees and yes, snow may not be far behind.
Winter is clearly on the way, and in the city of Ely that means it’s also time for calendar parking.
The morning of Nov. 1 marks the official start of Ely’s calendar parking rules, police chief Chad Houde told council members on Tuesday night.
In place during the winter season to aid in snow removal and plowing, the calendar parking law forces motorists to park their vehicles on opposite sides of the street on alternating nights.
On mornings of an “odd” date (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.), vehicles should be parked on the side of the street with odd-numbered addresses. Those that park on the avenue should be on the west side, with odd-numbered avenues.
Vehicles should switch to the side with even-numbered addresses on even dates, either the south side of streets or east side of avenues.
By city statute, calendar parking actually begins at 6 p.m., but police generally don’t begin enforcing the law until midnight.
Those who violate the law are subject to a $20 civil fine, although generally the police department begins by issuing friendly reminders at the start of calendar parking.
“We’ll be giving warnings out for a few weeks,” said Houde. “That’s to get people in the swing of things and to understand what side to park on. We’ll be patient.”
