Parking Ordinance Advisory Committee to Meet

Just because you do not see a "No Parking" sign does not mean it is OK to park on the street in Apopka. That's because the Apopka City Council passed a new Parking Ordinance in 2012. The new ordinance prohibited on-street parking except for "special occasions."

According to the City of Apopka website: “Unless it is otherwise posted or marked, on street parking is prohibited 24 hours a day.”

The ordinance does contain an exception. The on-street parking prohibition does not apply to “family or social gatherings.”

The ordinance goes on to define a "family or social gathering as, “...a special occasion such as birthdays, graduation, holidays, or other special events. It is not intended for the routine gathering or meeting whether daily, weekly or monthly.”

This portion of the ordinance can be read here. The entire ordinance can be found here.

In May 2013 the City began enforcing the parking ordinance city wide and sent a Parking Ordinance Letter to warn homeowners and HOAs.

After many complaints the City temporarily suspended enforcement of the ban on on-street parking in September of 2013. A special City Council meeting was held in October of 2013 and a Citizen's Parking Ordinance Advisory Committee was appointed by then-Mayor Land. The Committee met twice with the Apopka Police Department. In early 2014 it appeared that recommended changes would be proposed.

It has now been more than two years since the last meeting of a Parking Ordinance Committee. For the last two years, on-street parking has been allowed in Apopka unless the Apopka Police Department received a complaint about it. When complaints are received parking tickets are issued. This had led to complaints about the Ordinance being made to members of the City Council.

Apopka Chief of Police Michael McKinley has invited seven Apopka citizens to serve on a new Parking Ordinance Advisory Committee. The Committee will be chaired by McKinley and APD Captain Randy Fernandez. The first meeting will be Monday, July 18, 2016 at 6:30 PM at the Gilliam Training Center (321 East Cleveland Street).

According to an email send by McKinley, "At our first meeting on the 18^th we will establish how often we will meet and our timeline to complete our review of the ordinance. Once we are done we will submit recommendations to the City."

The Committee meeting is open to the public, but the public will not be allowed to participate, according to McKinley. They Committee will hear from the public during subsequent meetings.