MANSFIELD — Improved traffic safety on the so-called “Miracle Mile” is the scheduled topic Tuesday evening during a Mansfield City Council safety committee meeting.
Mansfield police Chief Keith Porch and Assistant Chief Jason Bammann are expected to discuss potential steps to crack down on speeding and “cruising” on Park Avenue West, primarily between Home Road on the west and Trimble Road on the east.
The committee meeting is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Council caucus is scheduled at 7 p.m. with the legislative session immediately after.
At-large Councilman Phil Scott chairs the safety committee, joined by 2nd Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Meier and 4th Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport.
There was no legislation on the topic scheduled for Tuesday on council’s agenda that was emailed on Friday. A draft of a potential bill was circulated in July, though it never made it before council.
Bammann addressed the topic in an email to council members in June. He told local lawmakers the situation on Park Avenue West “continues to be a struggle to address.”
“The chief and I have been looking at any options to correct and prevent future issues. I know the ‘Mile’ has been an attraction in our community longer than I have been alive. However, the crowds today are very different from the crowds of years past,” Bammann wrote.
He said it appeared there were “lawless individuals traveling to our community to create havoc” and that illegal street racing also remains a concern.
The draft ordinance circulated in July would prohibit “cruising” between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. in an area whose boundaries are Home Road on the west, Trimble Road on the east, Park Avenue West on the south and West Fourth Street on the north.
The legislation was patterned after a similar ordinance used in Wooster.
“Cruising” is defined in the ordinance as “driving a motor vehicle on a street past a traffic control point as designated (by police) more than two times in any two-hour time period.”
According to the draft legislation from July, such activity would “constitute unnecessary repetitive driving” and would be a misdemeanor offense that could escalate in severity with subsequent infractions.
The ordinance would not apply to public vehicles or vehicles being driven for commercial purposes, according to the draft.
Also on Tuesday, City Council is scheduled to:
— vote on a proposed $75 monthly fee for residents who have not had their water meters replace since a citywide replacement program began in 2020.
related reading
— vote on a resolution honoring office Kimberley Vandayburg upon her retirement from the Mansfield Police Department.
— vote to pay Kevin Walter of 430 Gem Ave. $1,200 for damages caused by a sewer backup on June 26.
— discuss during caucus transferring two parcels on land along West Third Street to the Richland County Land Bank.
— discuss during caucus a resolution in support for the city’s Office of Community Development’s recently completed Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) for the period covering July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.
— vote on a $4,000 then-and-now certificate to Felty-Heinlen Architects & Planners Inc. for services related to renovations at Mansfield Fire Department Station #3. The work was done before a purchase order was obtained.