COTTONWOON HEIGHTS, Utah -- Parking on the road could get your car towed. That's because winter parking bans are going into effect in cities across the state.
"One of the biggest challenges of any kind of a snow storm is having cars parked on the street," said Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore of Cottonwood Heights.
That's why cities across the state have ordinances requiring people to move their cars off the street when it's snowing.
"The reason for that is when you have big snow plows coming down on slippery streets we don't want cars to get damaged and we want to be able to do snow removal well," Cullimore said.
But in Cottonwood Heights there are cars that have not been moved from the road since the snow storm last week. City officials say starting Monday those cars will be towed.
"We try really hard not to do that we try to give people notices -- we put notices on the cars, we'll knock on doors, we'll do everything we can to avoid that, but in the end we have to make sure the roads are safe and that the snow plow drivers can do their job," Cullimore said.
But some argue keeping the cars off the side of the street can be a challenge.
“It's not really doable for a lot of families. We have a two car garage and there are three people living here because sometimes people do have to park on the road,” said Jazmine Roxburgh of Cottonwood Heights.
But they appreciate that a warning is given before a car is towed.
“If there is warning then that's good it's going to keep a lot of other people safe, keeping the cars off the streets for the roads to be plowed especially here in cottonwood heights where they have steep roads they definitely need to be plowed,” said Doug Greer of Cottonwood Heights.
City officials say the goal is safety.
"We're not trying to be ornery or mean we're just trying to prevent damage and create safety and make sure the roads are properly cleared," Cullimore said.
