Comment on this story
Oakdale to weigh hiked parking fines
Amounts too lenient, city manager laments
last updated: July 06, 2008 03:02:47 AM
The High Five
Most Emailed Stories
Most Commented Stories
- Driver in fatal crash arrested; Modestan killed
- Borrowers get a lifeline
- Mystery woman's relatives fill in a few gaps
- Modesto man suspected in San Francisco biker death arrested
- Bay Area hiker missing in Sierra found dead
The High Five are the five most-read stories, updated hourly.
OAKDALE -- The risk-reward system for illegal parking and minor vehicle violations favors drivers, Oakdale City Manager Steve Hallam believes, and he wants the City Council to fix that.
The council will vote Monday on whether to hike the price people pay for parking in red zones, failing to put money in the parking meter and similar violations.
Oakdale last raised its fines in 1991, and Hallam said increasing penalties will convince folks to follow the rules better. A reasonable penalty, he said, means the risk of being caught outweighs the reward of parking illegally or failing to feed the meter.
He also pointed out that higher fines would benefit the city's budget, because money from parking citations goes to the general fund.
This isn't a money grab, said Hallam, who pointed out that many of Oakdale's fines are well behind other cities in the region.
Parking in a red zone is a $20 fine in Oakdale, but is $50 in Riverbank and Turlock. Failing to feed the parking meter is a $12 fine in Oakdale, but is $25 in Riverbank, Turlock and Modesto.
Increasing fines would make streets safer for motorists and pedestrians, as well, Hallam said.
The council also will discuss:
Endorsing Stanislaus County's transportation tax measure. If approved by voters, a half-cent sales tax hike could generate $700 million over 20 years for roads and other projects.
Awarding a $16,000 contract to Boyle Engineering, which has one of its 11 California offices in Los Banos, for work on updating the city's water master plan. Residential and commercial expansion, and the addition of a well, require that the plan be updated.
Maintaining annual assessments for lighting and maintenance districts in Burchell Hills ($461 a parcel), Bridle Ridge ($364), Vineyard No. 1 ($470) and No. 2 ($518), Live Oak ($200), Reinman ($303), Sunset Meadows ($524), Sterling Hills ($432) and Murdock Estates ($249).
The council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at 277 N. Second Ave.
Modbee.com is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since Modbee.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Modesto Bee.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
Copyright © 2008, The Modesto Bee.
