Cloquet changes winter parking law to allow for towing

By a vote of 5-1 (councilor Kerry Kolodge dissenting) on April 2, Cloquet City councilors approved a requested change to the city’s winter parking ordinance — which prohibit parking on the street 3-6 a.m. from Nov. 1 to March 31 — to allow police officers to tow vehicles that violate the law.

It’s been five years since police have been able to enforce the ordinance, because of a change to state statute which required police to ticket, then wait four hours notice before towing.

That four-hour limit has now been removed from state law, which means police can again enforce the local ordinance as long as the city declares a snow emergency (2 or more inches of snow).

The council also approved moving the time three hours earlier, to midnight. Cloquet police commander Carey Ferrell, who presented the proposal to the council, said police would make exceptions for businesses that stay open later than midnight.

Kolodge asked why the police wanted the time change, since only a declaration of a snow emergency is required.

Ferrell said having more time will help police get vehicles off the streets before the city plows come out between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.

“It takes time to ticket and prepare a tow report, which you have to do,” Ferrell said. “If we start at midnight, it gives both law enforcement and wreckers more time to come out before plows hit the streets.”