BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN
City closer to adopting civil parking enforcement program
The city of New Braunfels is inching closer to adopting a civil parking enforcement program after the council unanimously approved an ordinance amendment on March 24. Moving to a civil process would provide cost savings to the court and allow them to redirect their attention to “more serious matters,” Jeff Jewell, director of economic & community development said. The new program would also be more consumer friendly, according to a presentation. Explained The civil parking enforcement program—if approved—will be enforced by Interstate Parking. The program will apply to paid public parking space violations, including fines, hearing appeals, vehicle immobilization or impoundment for delinquent accounts and criminal penalties for impeding ordinance enforcement, agenda docu- ments state. Currently, parking violations are considered a Class C Misdemeanor under a criminal process through the city’s Municipal Court. Individuals disputing a parking violation must make multiple court appearances to resolve the matter, and failure to appear in court may result in additional criminal charges, increased fees and arrest war- rants, according to the presentation. The New Braunfels Municipal Court dealt with about 3,400 parking-related violations in 2024, Jewell said. City Attorney Valeria Acevedo said civil vio- lations in the new ordinance would be parking a vehicle in a paid public parking space without paying the required fee, parking outside the
Dates to know
April 1
April 17
April 21
May 1
May 7 & 8
Resident River Parking Pass Portal opens
Staff will give update to River Advisory Committee
Staff will give a presentation to council detailing downtown parking
Interstate Parking agents will begin enforcing paid river parking
City will host town hall forums to receive additional community feedback
delineated parking space or parking in a space legally occupied by another vehicle. “If a citizen is interfering with the enforcement of this ordinance that is going to be a Class C Mis- demeanor punishable with a fine up to $500 in the New Braunfels Municipal Court,” Acevedo said. Something to note The civil parking enforcement program and ordinance amendment is part of a larger, ongoing effort across multiple departments to implement recommendations from a 2023 operations and management study, Jewell said. The study—which reviewed parking enforce- ment practices downtown and in river parks— found that parking enforcement was inefficient and labor intensive, according the presentation. Stay tuned The item will come back for a second and final reading at a future meeting date. The city will continue with public engagement efforts through- out April and May.
How it works
Citation is received - $100
Payment due in 30 calendar days
$100 fee will be reduced to $65 Citation paid within 10 days
A late fee of $65 may be assessed Citation NOT paid within 30 days
Three or more unpaid violations
Vehicle may be immobilized with a barnacle A barnacle is a device placed on the windshield of a vehicle that has multiple outstanding non-compliance violations.
Barnacles that are not removed within 24 hours of immobilization can be towed or impounded
SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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