SAN MARCOS, Texas — The City of San Marcos is cracking down on people who have unpaid parking citations through its recently approved vehicle booting ordinance.
How it works is if a driver has three or unpaid or overdue parking tickets, the City is allowed to place a boot on a car or impound it.
Signs have been placed around the Downtown Square stating that the ordinance is in effect, along with a QR code, which takes people to a site and explains what happens if you get the boot.
According to the City, a warning sticker will first be placed on the vehicle and violators will have 10 days to pay or appeal to the City Marshal's Office.
Some people who live in the city believe it could help to have enforcement but are worried this will lead to a disruption in an area predominantly catered to college students.
"You're definitely going to be hitting the younger demographics – the college students, those that are in their mid- to late 20s that still live in town that might have a couple of parking tickets they don't really care to pay for. And now their car is immobilized on the square, taking up more parking," San Marcos resident Ryan Wells said.
Max Wethington, who is also a San Marcos resident, explained that parking is already limited and there is a huge difference in parking and traffic when school is in session.
"We kind of need to have things we can do to enforce," Wethington said.
In July, the City approved to extend the parking window in some parts of downtown from two hours to four hours, which residents also had mixed feelings about.
Residents only hope the new rule doesn't lead to any disruption.
"I do understand the positive side effects of more parking means more customers, local businesses, but doing the expense and using law enforcement to go around and check every single license plate to see how many parking tickets they have seems like a massive drain on the city's resources," Wells said.