Last night, the City Council approved two important ordinance changes last night that will have a significant impact on parked vehicles.
Parking on Residential Streets
On-street parking (including residential neighborhoods) has been reduced from 72 hours to 24 hours, effective immediately. Vehicles must be moved for a minimum of 3 hours to be considered moved. For example, if you have a teenager who regularly parks their car on the street and takes their car to school every day, that vehicle is considered moved and not parked in the same spot for 24 hours even though it may be parked back in the same location after returning from school.
Commercial Vehicles
On-street parking will now only be allowed for non-commercial vehicles. Commercial vehicles are no longer permitted to park on the street, regardless of the timeframe, unless they are loading, unloading, or in the middle of performing a service. Commercial vehicles are considered anything that is not a passenger vehicle, motorcycle, or pick-up truck. If the vehicle is designed to move product and services, it is considered a commercial vehicle. Some examples include 18-wheeler cabs, 18-wheelers, or box trucks.
All-Weather Parking Surface Requirement
Vehicles (including boats, trailers, etc.) must be parked on an all-weather surface that is visible to the public. This means, a vehicle cannot be parked on grass, gravel, crushed granite, permeable plastic grass pavers, or a gravel/paver combination. In addition, individual landscape pavers placed under tires or hitches are not considered an all-weather parking facility. Concrete and asphalt driveways are approved. Some of Bedford’s older homes were built during a time when paved driveways were not a requirement. The City has done a full audit of those homes to confirm which ones still did not have a driveway, which have been exempted from this ordinance. However, the City is looking for ways to assist these homeowners with a program that will help them have a fully-paved surface that will handle two vehicles.
Recreational Vehicles (RVs)
Residents with a recreational vehicle, such as an RV, will need a permit to park on the street up to seven days. In addition, RV parking permits will only be handed out once during a 30-day period. The RV should not be occupied, and the temporary on-street parking is for the owner to prep or clean the vehicle before or after a trip. If an RV can fit completely in the driveway without blocking the sidewalk, hitch included, it is permitted to be permanently parked there. Recreational vehicles are defined as travel trailers, motor homes, boats, trailers, or similar equipment. To request an RV permit, send an email to building.permits@bedfordtx.gov. Staff is working on making the permit available online in the near future, at www.bedfordtx.gov/permitinfo.
Junked Vehicles
To reflect changes in the State law, the City has updated its “Abandoned and Junked Motor Vehicles” ordinance. A junk vehicle is described as inoperable or has been inoperable for more than 72 hours on public property. A vehicle is also considered a junk vehicle that has been parked on private property for 30 consecutive days and is wrecked or partially dismantled.
When does this go into effect?
These changes are effective immediately. However, the City realizes it will take significant outreach to ensure everyone knows about the ordinance changes. City staff realize these are big changes and the first step is education. The Police Department will be doing a 30-day period of warnings to violators to help educate people about these changes. The Police will also be working to notify apartment complexes.
Questions? Need More Info?
Have questions about these changes? Leave them in the comments or shoot us an email at public.info@bedfordtx.gov and we’ll work to get them answered for you. For additional information on all changes, please view the Bedford Code of Ordinances at https://bedfordtx.gov/248/Charter-Codes-of-Ordinances.