UNSIGHTLINESS OF CARS BRINGS JACKSON ACTION

JACKSON -- Complaints about the unsightliness of used vehicles sitting on parking lots around town led to the Jackson Board of Aldermen's recent action prohibiting people from parking vehicles on public lots with the intent of advertising them for sale.

"Many citizens of Jackson felt like there was an abuse of public parking lots," Mayor Paul Sander said. "There were some parking lots having 10 to 15 cars sitting in them for sale by owners over an entire weekend. We had many complaints about the unsightliness of that.

"They also wanted to know if the city was getting into the business of used-car sales."

There is no penalty for violating the ordinance, but vehicles belonging to people who continuously abuse it will be towed.

Sander said police will run license checks on vehicles for sale on lots and the owner will be asked to remove the car.

Jackson police have been unable to put the new ordinance to use because the weekend after it was passed no cars were parked on lots, Sander said.

The ordinance gives owners of private lots some leeway in dealing with unwanted vehicles parked on their property. If the lot owners want a car removed they can call police and an officer will determine who owns the vehicle and ask them to remove it.

Wal-Mart on Jackson Boulevard has had a policy in place since it opened discouraging people from parking their cars on its lot with the intent of advertising them for sale. An assistant manager of the store said the lot is for customer parking and anything else is inappropriate.

Sander said he had received complaints from two Jackson churches about unwanted cars in their lots.

"The churches really didn't want to have to enforce the law; they don't want to have to call people and complain," he said. "So we took on that responsibility."

"People can park in private lots if the owner has no objection," he said.