Reader has issue with proposed parking changes

Dear Editor and Citizens of Mountain Home,

Recently, I learned that our mayor and town council is proposing some major changes to our parking ordinance, 6-4-3, that will affect anyone with limited parking around their homes. The proposed changes would limit the amount of time that an individual can park their vehicle in front of a residence that the vehicle is not registered to. They are proposing that the time limit be 8 hours after which a $40 fine be imposed for being parked legally on a public street.

What this means for those of us that do not have off street parking, have limited off street parking, or have multiple vehicles in a household, is that we will have to figure out how we are going to park in our own neighborhoods on our own streets that our own taxes pay for. For instance, recently we had a city water line that broke in front of our home and caused us to have to park in front of our neighbors’ homes until this situation was repaired which took over a month. This would have caused our kids’ vehicles to be fined every day for that time, $40/offense/vehicle as we were forced to park our vehicles elsewhere.

The other situations that come to mind are if we have family from out of town that come to visit, we have friends’ or family that come to visit, we have a funeral, a party, or any situation that has visitors come to our homes and park next door, across the street, or anywhere besides directly in front of our homes, they will be fined. How welcoming is this? Our mayor puts on his page that this town is inclusive and invites all to come here, but yet his policies that he suggests say other than that.

There is a proposed public meeting for July 9th at 7:00 P.M. at City Hall and I feel that everyone should make a showing regarding this. Let our voices be heard and let our city leaders know that this is not what we want for our town. My wife and I both grew up here and feel that this is a wonderful town to raise our children, but if we do not stand up for our rights and the rights of our fellow citizens, this city will not be as welcoming as it was when we grew up. How can we expect to keep families here when we are making laws that make it hard to be a family or prevent families and friends from coming together?

Terry Black