11Alive’s Doug Richards contacted me yesterday to get some background on this story and asked whether I was interested in giving a wrap-up of events on-camera that led up to the changes in the booting ordinance.  I declined, in large part, because of the wider controversy I helped create surrounding it.

But I did suggest he talk to Peggy Merriss and I’m happy to see he was able to get a couple quotes from her about the situation.

Also I love how Doug pops-out from behind the various parking signs during the segment.  Who knew a booting segment could be so humorous!?

After much recent noise – on both this site and around the community – the Decatur City Commission added new details to the city’s booting ordinance at its meeting last night.  These amendments look to deal with “issues of interpretation of certain portions of the ordinance in regards to signage placement and visibility.”

Here’s a summary of the four “amendments” (page 19 of the supplemental materials) suggested by the Decatur Police Department (by way of City Manager Peggy Merriss) and approved by the commission…

First, we want to address the issue of placing signs at both the entrance and exit to the parking deck so that persons who may not have seen the signs are given warning as the leave the lot as a pedestrian.  This should give the parker ample notice to return to their vehicle and either pay for the parking or remove their car.

Second, we want to make sure that the sign sare visible from each parking space so that parkers are also given notice when they pull into a space.  Previously this section was undefined and we were having difficulty enforcing a consistent standard.

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