Starting Monday, students will be ticketed if they park within the yellow zone that recent Muncie parking ordinances specify for two-hour parking and zone-only parking.
The yellow zone, within the bounds of Wheeling, Riverside, Bethel and New York avenues will be the first of the four parking zones to see the ordinance enforced, Muncie building commissioner Jerry Friend said.
The three parking ordinances, which were passed in June and supposed to be enforced starting Aug. 15, changed parking restrictions on 35 roads near campus - making two-hour parking available on one side of the street Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 25 of the roads and completely restricting parking on 10 roads.
These ordinances sparked confusion and disagreement among some city council members and city administrators about what exactly the ordinances said.
"The debate was the council thought the intent of the ordinance was to have no parking on the one side of the street and the ordinance doesn't say that," Friend said.
He said the ordinance states that one side of the streets would be two-hour parking and the other side would be parking for local residents who have the proper tags.
He said the original no parking signs for the streets were sent back and reprinted with the correct information.
"We already have the two-hour parking signs up and the only difference would be on the opposite side of the two hour would be zone parking only," Friend said.
Residents with the proper zone decal can park wherever they want within their zone, Friend said.
"In order to park in their zone the need a decal for the bumper, but only the landlords can get that, and its only one decal for house," Friend said.
Council member Alison Quirk said she didn't know how the misunderstanding on the ordinances' meaning happened.
"There is not going to be anymore public discussion," Quirk said. "I don't know why people thought that was going to happen. The commissioner was just waiting to get different signs."
Quirk said the tags or decals would make the enforcement easier.
Friend said he only has four people working to enforce the ordinances.
Fliers will be put on cars in the yellow zone on Friday to inform residents of the enforcement.
"It works in Lafayette, it works in Bloomington +â-óGé¼" I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work in Muncie," Friend said. "We are trying to provide students and people in the neighborhoods with parking."
He said enforcement for all areas should be in place by the end of the year.
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