With snow drifts rapidly growing on the streets of Hillsdale, city police officers are handing out tickets to parking ban violators.
Recently, many Hillsdale College students have found tickets on their cars for parking in the streets while city snowplows attempt to clear them after snowfall. The city police department wasn’t able to provide a specific number of how many tickets have been issued to students, but the number is higher than in previous years.
Section 32-171 of Hillsdale’s code of ordinances states, “It is unlawful to park, leave unattended or fail to remove any motor vehicle or trailer on any public street, highway, parking lot or alleyway or cause to remain parked after a snowfall and/or drifting snow of 4 inches or more, prior to the removal by city plowing of said street.”
The unfortunate penalty for vehicle owners who violate this injunction is a ticket and potentially getting towed. Police officers mark cars which need to be moved with a yellow ticket, but if it is not moved within 24 hours, it will be towed.
As a result of the abnormal amount of snow this winter, police are forced to enforce this ordinance on a more often than in drier winters, which explains why more tickets are being issued this year.