SIDNEY --The Sidney City Council spent part of the Tuesday meeting seeking a solution to extended parking in downtown Sidney.

At issue is the balance between inviting customers to park near businesses and recognizing an increasing number of second floor tenants, some who can't walk a block or more to public parking.

Sidney Police Chief Sam Lovato said two-hour parking was implemented for the area from King Street north to Hickory Square, from 13th Avenue east to the railroad tracks.

"That two-hour parking was originally installed or implemented for the idea of getting turnover for businesses. Back when this was made, we had a different type of Illinois type Streets. We had a lot more boutiques. We had a lot more shopping, a lot more turnover. That's kind of what we were doing. Store owners wanted to have that ability to have that. The problem is times have changed," Chief Lovato said at the Tuesday city council meeting.

He said they started received reports of two-hour violations.

"A primary obstacle to effective enforcement is inherent difficulty in defining, or definitively proving, that the vehicle has not been moved within the two-hour limit," he said.

Lovato said to physically monitor downtown parking can be very labor-intensive. Additionally, he said a 2012 court case makes marking tires a violation of the 4th Amendment.

"There's also the report that the individuals who have moved into their residential units, the storefronts in this area, are becoming a growing number. So the city itself is starting to receive a lot of individuals who are either A leasing out the upstairs of their storefronts on Illinois, or themselves the store owners are living in those units above Illinois. We are seeing more and more of this type of mixed residency, mixed zoning that's not planning on going anywhere if anything else is going to increase," he said.

He added the residents in downtown would likely prefer parking near their home, not two to three blocks away.

Andrew Holbrock spoke from the position of a business owner who lives above his business.

"My wife Lynn and I bought the building at 1025 10th Ave. in 2020. A few years later, the council approved two-hour parking on the east side of 10th Avenue, the 1000 block. No one ever came and talked to us about that, about this change. It was done without us receiving any notice. In 2022, we bought 925 Illinois St. We decided to move our two businesses to the new location. We are both over 70 now, but we hope to keep doing this as long as we can. This is our home now," he said.

Holbrock suggested exemptions for people who live downtown, and two-hour parking during business hours.

Matt Highby, Highby Outdoors, supported downtown businesses needing parking space for their customers. 

The council supported enforcement during specific business hours. The draft will be considered at the next council meeting. Chamber of Commerce President Joe McCarn offered to survey downtown businesses.