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Ely Police Chief Chad Houde joked this week that Halloween night is frightful for reasons beyond those associated with that evening.
For it’s that night that calendar parking returns to the city.
The morning of Nov. 1 marks the official start of Ely’s calendar parking rules.
“It’s very scary that night, not only ghosts and goblins but the start of calendar parking,” Houde told council members 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.
“For the first few weeks we’ll be putting reminders out on cars,” said Houde. “We’ll give you a heads up. It is coming. It doesn’t feel like it right now but with all the rain we had last summer I feel we’ll have a lot of snow this year.”
