(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department is warning residents that they are now issuing citations for vehicles that have not been moved off of City streets so the snowplows can clear the streets. In a social media post Wednesday morning, the A-PD says “As we posted a few days ago, we have been attempting to help the Public Works Department with clearing the city streets. We found that after making that post, many individuals had still not moved their vehicles from city streets so that the roads could be cleared.

“Officers began issuing citations to vehicles yesterday evening that had not moved since the cessation of snowfall. However, some of these citations were marked as a violation of a snow emergency. The city of Atlantic has not enacted a snow emergency.” Vehicles that were issued citations were in violation of an ordinance limiting parking to 24-hours. The ordinance states “No person shall park any vehicle for a continuous period of more than twenty-four hours, on any public street, alley, or City-owned off-street parking area following the cessation of snowfall.

“Many of these vehicles,” Atlantic Police said, “had not moved since the previous snowfall.” The citations have been updated with the City, and any that have been written as a violation of a snow emergency now show that they were in violation of 24 hour parking in reference to the city code mentioned.

The fine for a parking violation during snow removal efforts, is $30.