City of Onalaska, WI Maintenance of Vehicles

[Amended 3-8-2022 by Ord. No. 1722-2022]

Parking and storage of vehicles in all residential zoning districts.

Parking and storage of registered, licensed, and operable vehicles. Vehicles shall be kept fully operational, licensed and used on a regular basis. Oil and other vehicle fluids shall not be permitted to spill onto the ground, which may create an aesthetic nuisance and/or migrate into the City's right-of-way or utility systems. In all districts, parking and/or storage of registered, licensed and operable vehicles, including automobiles, vehicles and trailers used for recreational purposes over 25 feet in length (not including trailer tongue) and commercial vehicles under 25 feet in length shall be consistent with the following:

All vehicles shall be appropriately parked on an approved hard surface (including, but not limited to, gravel, asphalt, concrete or similar surface), or stored in an enclosed structure, or on a driveway.

No person shall park or store, or permit any other person to park or store, a vehicle on lawn/grassed surface.

Parking of vehicles and trailers. Vehicles and trailers under 25 feet in length (not including trailer tongue) not required by the State of Wisconsin to be licensed or registered, including cargo trailers, travel trailers, boats, and other such items, as well as registered and licensed vehicles and trailers used for recreational purposes, including snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, shall not be parked on front yards (excluding corner properties) unless parked on a driveway or an approved hard surface. Such vehicles if parked in the driveway shall not extend over a public sidewalk and/or City right-of-way. Such vehicles/trailers may be parked in rear and side yards on grassed areas.

Recreational vehicles. In addition to the other regulations of this section, all recreational vehicles stored on a property shall be owned by the resident on whose property the unit is parked for storage. No part of the unit may extend over the public sidewalk or public right-of-way. Parking is permitted only for storage purposes. Recreational vehicles shall not be:

Used for dwelling purposes, except for overnight sleeping for a maximum of 14 days in any one calendar year. Cooking is not permitted at any time.

Permanently connected to sewer lines, water lines or electricity. The recreational vehicle may be connected to electricity temporarily for charging batteries and other purposes.

Used for storage of goods, materials and equipment other than those items considered to be part of the unit or essential for its immediate use.

Vehicles or trailer used for storage of goods. No vehicle, trailer, or similar device shall be used for the storage of goods, materials or equipment other than those items considered to be part of the unit or essential for its immediate use.

Parking or storage of unregistered, unlicensed, or inoperable vehicles on private property. Any unregistered, unlicensed, or inoperable vehicles (including automobiles and vehicles and trailers used for recreational purposes) shall not be stored for more than 10 days on private property on an approved hard surface, unless stored within an enclosed structure. Owners of vehicles may make minor repairs to their own registered vehicles within the stated ten-day period and not on vehicles owned by individuals that do not reside on the subject property.

Parking or storage of unregistered, unlicensed, or inoperable vehicles on public property. Except as permitted on State of Wisconsin property, no person shall park any unregistered, unlicensed, or inoperable vehicle upon any public street, alley, highway, or public property. Except as otherwise provided in this section, whenever any vehicle has been found unregistered, unlicensed or inoperable, it may be cited for the violation, towed or impounded at the owner's expense.

[Amended 5-10-2022 by Ord. No. 1731-2022]

An unregistered vehicle shall be defined as any motor vehicle required to be registered under Wisconsin law that is located upon a street or highway and that is not displaying valid registration plates, a temporary operation plate, or other evidence of registration as provided under § 341.18(1), Wis. Stats., for the vehicle's current registration period or for a registration period for the vehicle that expired within the immediately preceding 31 days.

Every sworn member of the City of Onalaska Police Department is hereby authorized to remove or to have removed any unregistered vehicle left upon any street or highway within the City of Onalaska.

Any City law enforcement officer who discovers any such unregistered vehicle on any public street or highway in the City of Onalaska shall cause the vehicle to be removed to an impoundment location until lawfully claimed or disposed of in accordance with this section, the procedures of the Police Department, and § 341.65(2)(b), Wis. Stats.

Abandoned vehicles. A vehicle is considered abandoned if the vehicle is parked and left unattended in the same place for 48 consecutive hours without the permission of the owner of the premises and is in public view. The City of Onalaska Police Department shall be responsible for the removal and disposition of vehicles abandoned on public premises. Vehicles abandoned on public property shall be disposed of per § 342.40, Wis. Stats. For private properties, the Onalaska Police Department's involvement is limited to issuing appropriate parking tickets, and it is the responsibility of the property owner to appropriately remove and dispose of vehicles abandoned on private property. Any person who abandons a vehicle on public or private premises may be punished by imposition of fines as detailed in this chapter.

Storage of trucks, tractors and road machinery.

Truck parking in residential areas. No motor vehicle over 12,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rated capacity bearing a commercial license, including school buses, and no commercially licensed trailer, including semitrailers, shall be parked or stored in a residential district, except when loading, unloading or rendering a service.

Tractors and road machinery. No person, firm or corporation shall park, keep or maintain on residential-zoned properties (whether or not in enclosed structures) the following types of vehicles: tractors, tractor trailers, semitrailers, farm tractors in excess of six feet in width, dump trucks, auto wreckers and road machinery, except when loading, unloading or rendering a service.

Responsibility for parking violations on premises. The registered owner of a vehicle shall be responsible for any violations of the parking provisions of this chapter. If a vehicle has been abandoned or the owner of the vehicle is unknown, then the owner of the property on which the vehicle is located shall be responsible for any violation of the parking provisions of this chapter.