TYRONE — Parking tickets issued for meter violations on Saturday, Jan. 25, were voided this week by Tyrone Borough Council members, who argue people weren’t given a notice the borough’s ordinance would be enforced.

The existing ordinance requires people to pay for parking Monday through Saturday, according to Jessica Walk, the borough’s chief of police, who said her parking enforcement officer “did nothing wrong” by enforcing the violations.

According to council Vice President David Snyder, about 20 years ago, downtown business owners approached the borough and requested to have officers “ease up” on enforcing the ordinance during the weekends. Council members at the time agreed to the request, he said.

“To my understanding, they did not want to have Saturdays removed from the ordinance because, if they have an ongoing issue, then it’s easier to just enforce what’s on the books than it is to put it back on,” Snyder said.

Snyder said many rumors have spread about why the borough hasn’t enforced the ordinance in nearly two decades, with some claiming it’s because enforcement officers don’t work on the weekends.

“That’s not true,” he said. “What was true was that the borough agreed not to do it on Saturdays.”

The issue became that one of the town’s businesses contacted the Tyrone Borough Police Department and requested enforcement of the ordinance on Jan. 25, Snyder said.

Since so few administrative staff who were there when the precedent was set are still working for the borough, “They just went ahead and did it,” Snyder said.

It’s unclear how many parking violations were issued Jan. 25.

“The reason that we went ahead and voided it is because there’s been a 20-year precedent of us not doing it and no notice was given prior to that enforcement,” Snyder said, noting some of the people who might have received a ticket likely grew up in a downtown culture where there was no enforcement on Saturdays.

“It just wasn’t fair,” Snyder said. “The majority of council felt that it wasn’t fair to simply start enforcing something (because) it’s assumed that we don’t do it on Saturdays without some kind of notice.”

According to comments posted on Snyder’s Facebook post announcing the borough would refund any money paid for Jan. 25 violations, parking is a concern in downtown Tyrone, with residents and business owners commenting in favor of weekend enforcement.

Rob Harmon, who owns Tam’s Treasures along Pennsylvania Avenue, said there’s nowhere for his customers to park when residents of apartments above the downtown businesses fill the available spaces.

In the comments of Snyder’s post, borough Councilman William Wiser said he never received notice of the refund and is in favor of holding people responsible to follow the ordinance as it’s written.

“If they were ticketed, there’s a reason for it. Put money in meters,” Wiser wrote.

Harmon, replying to Wiser’s comment, encouraged him to “find out about this,” noting, with the enforcement, “There (were) actually places to park on Pennsylvania Avenue on Saturday for a change.”

Snyder said he thinks the council will likely discuss whether to begin enforcing the ordinance on Saturdays at its next regular meeting, Monday, Feb. 10. Prior to the meeting, Snyder plans to approach business owners to see whether the majority of them are in favor of enforcing the ordinance on Saturdays.

“If the majority of them want to have it enforced, then I’ll support that,” he said. “It’s really directly impacting them whether we do it or we don’t. That’s where I stand on it personally.”

Rose Black, executive director of the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber’s office is closed on the weekends. While the chamber is not directly affected, Black said she’s aware of tenants, who have off-site parking spaces, parking in the downtown area on Saturdays and Sundays.

“They do seem to park in the downtown,” Black said. “Not that I’m in favor of them (enforcing the ordinance) on Saturdays, but if they have to to allow for the businesses, I understand.”

According to Snyder’s post, those ticketed on Jan. 25 and who have yet to pay the fine, should know that it has already been voided and the ticket can be thrown away. Anyone requiring a refund should visit the Tyrone Borough Police station, 1100 Logan Ave., between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday to request a refund.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.