Motorists will pay the price for ignoring Hudson snow emergency

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Police Chief Marty Jensen is reminding motorists of a city of Hudson ordinance that requires vehicles to be removed from streets after a snowfall of two or more inches.

Parking on city streets during and after a snowstorm is prohibited until a street has been plowed from curb to curb.

With the possible accumulation of snow predicted for the area on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 28-29, Jensen is hoping to avoid a repeat of the cleanup following a snowstorm last week.

The police department issued nearly 50 tickets for illegal parking after that snowfall, which started Monday night, Feb. 21, and lasted into Tuesday, Feb. 22.

Jensen said city snow plow operators counted 176 vehicles that were in violation of Hudson’s winter parking ordinance. He said police officers weren’t able to ticket them all because they had calls to respond to as well.

The police chief noted that if the same people ticketed last time leave their vehicles on the street again, they’ll get a $50 ticket this time.

“I’d just as soon not do that. I’d just as soon have the streets cleared until we get them plowed curb to curb,” Jensen said.

Vehicles illegally parked during a snow event for a third time will be towed to the city impound lot at the owners’ expense, on top of receiving another $50 ticket. The towing charge is $150 to $200, Jensen said.

Public Works Director Tom Zeuli said having vehicles off the streets following a snowstorm greatly speeds the snow removal process.

He said snowplows are unable to go down some residential streets when cars are parked on them.

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