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When the parking enforcement officer of the city of Houghton wants to keep track of cars parked downtown, the officer will put a small chalk mark on the tire and the curbside.
That makes it easier to tell if that car remains there longer than the posted time allowed and to write a ticket, if necessary.
Houghton Police Chief John Donnelly says that practice was ruled unconstitutional by the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, following a lawsuit filed by a Saginaw woman who had received 15 parking tickets in a three year span.
The court ruled that the bit of chalk left on the tires amounts to a search without a warrant.
Donnelly said the city will continue to enforce parking in the downtown area but will need to reevaluate the procedure for tracking how long cars have remained in a spot and if they have been moved.
“We’re going to have to do something. Right now, we might just go to photographing what vehicles are where,” said Donnelly.
Parking on the parking deck is limited to two hours and only one hour along Shelden Avenue, even if the vehicle has been moved from one parking place to another.
