Coeur d'Alene to enforce new alleyway parking rule

City motorists will now be required to park farther away from alleyways.

Prompted by garbage trucks having trouble safely entering and exiting alleyways, Coeur d’Alene officials on Tuesday unanimously passed a new rule that prohibits anyone from parking within 15 feet of an alleyway.

“Alleys are an interesting aspect of our city,” City Attorney Randy Adams said. “They’re narrow, they’re not usually maintained, but a lot of people park their totes in the alley.”

City documents show that Republic Services, the city’s solid waste hauler, has experienced difficulty entering and exiting some alleys when collecting citizens' solid waste and recyclables. If a vehicle is parked too close to the intersection of a road and an alley, Republic’s trucks cannot safely make the turn.

“The proposal is that a distance of 15 feet in each direction from an alley would be sufficient to allow them to turn both into and out of an alley,” Adams said.

As a consequence, some customers, who have historically placed their totes in an alley for pick up, have not had their solid waste collected on the designated day and Republic has to go back on a different day after the vehicles have been moved, according to city documents.

“There's just no way a large truck is going to be able to safely enter the street,” Adams said.

If vehicles have not been moved, however, the solid waste may not be collected at all or the Republic drivers have had to back into a street, which presents a traffic hazard. 

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Dan Gookin said this issue was brought up earlier in the year.

“If it’s unsafe for the vehicle to go through the alley,” Gookin said, “they’re not going through an alley.”

Council member Dan Sheckler echoed this sentiment, agreeing the new rule is good for public safety.

“Personally, when we exit our alley, it’s dangerous with the cars parked so close,” Sheckler said.

As to initial enforcement of the new parking prohibition, the city anticipates a reasonable period of time for education with warnings, with the possibility of posting signs in selected areas if education is ineffective, city documents show.

Adams also said that people won’t at first be ticketed if they are found non-compliant for the new parking rule. 

“People will be given warnings,” Adams said. “There will be an educational component of this before we start issuing citations.”

    Coeur d'Alene Mayor Dan Gookin responds to a new alleyway parking proposal on Tuesday.