Sioux Falls is looking to add some restrictions to the vehicle sizes that are allowed to park on Phillips Avenue – a busy road in the downtown area.
The ordinance applies to the 142 parking spots starting at 9th street and extending to 13th street on Phillips Avenue in Sioux Falls.
It would prohibit larger vehicles – such as trucks – from parking in the area. A line will be painted on the edge of the existing diagonal line.
Vehicles extending past that line are subject to ticketing. That’s a $15 dollar fine – similar to other Sioux Falls downtown parking tickets.
According to the city council similar ordinances exist in Rapid City and Omaha, Nebraska.
Jennifer Sigette is a city councilor for Sioux Falls. She said the ordinance is about safety.
“There are about 4,000 public parking spots in downtown Sioux Falls, so there’s well over 3800 places for people to park," Sigette said. "We definitely want people to still feel very comfortable coming to downtown, shopping, eating, enjoying all the amenities we have, but we want it to be as safe as possible for not only the general public, but obviously police and firefighters. We just want to limit the danger of having those big vehicles out onto Phillips (Avenue)."
Some of the biggest criticisms of the proposed ordinance is that the Ford F-150 – one of the more popular trucks on the market – cannot fit into proposed spots.
Despite this – Sigette said Sioux Falls residents have been generally optimistic about the ordinance.
“It has been overwhelmingly positive since Oct. 22nd at the informational hearing. I’ve talked to other councilors, this is the most, certainly in the 5 or 6 months that the 4 new councilors, that we’ve been on council, this is by far the most feedback we’ve received on any issue," Sigette said. "And, of course, there’s a couple negatives. There’s always going to be. But, I would say 99% of the feedback we’ve had is ‘It’s about time’ are the words I’ve heard a lot."
The earliest the ordinance could go into effect is May 1, 2025.
