Laramie police and staff reported to the City Council on enforcement of the city’s recreational‑vehicle and trailer parking rules and presented technology options to speed traffic and parking analysis.

Chief Brown said the department had stepped up enforcement over the past 12 months after several years of limited activity. Using police call records and court citations, the department recorded approximately 26 RV/trailer‑related investigations in the last year (9 officer‑initiated, 17 citizen complaints); court filings rose in a prior enforcement cycle after a period of limited enforcement, the chief said. The fine for the violation under the updated ordinance is $40.

Councilors pressed for remedies in neighborhoods where parked trailers obstruct sight lines and impede street cleaning and snow removal. Councilor Lockhart said she receives repeated complaints about seasonal campers that remain parked year‑round and requested the council weigh options such as a seasonal prohibition or time limits. Councilor Newman noted that some parts of West Laramie lack curbing or street geometry that make standard parking controls ineffective.

Chief Brown described enforcement tools and a possible operational change: assigning a Community Service Officer (CSO) to downtown to build relationships with businesses and to focus on enforcement of parking and time‑limit complaints. He said the department expects to fill a CSO position and that an additional CSO focused on downtown parking was under consideration.

Staff also presented a commercial traffic‑data product several councilors described as a potential force multiplier. The service aggregates scrubbed vehicle telemetry (from newer vehicles) and returns anonymized, location‑based speed and parking‑space occupancy data. The vendor’s current feed has about an 80% vehicle coverage rate for modern cars and can return weeks or years of historical speed and parking usage data; staff estimated a subscription and reporting cost of about $31,000 per year. City staff noted the tool could reduce the time and labor required for site speed studies and help target enforcement and engineering changes.

Councilors, staff and members of the public discussed alternatives and tradeoffs: some councilors favored seasonal limits or time restrictions, while others cautioned that setting new requirements could force storage costs on residents (storage units were cited at roughly $70 per month by one councilor) or push people in parts of West Laramie to park on other streets.

Public comments at the work session reflected both safety and affordability concerns. Residents said long trailers on narrow streets create sight‑line hazards at intersections and impede snow‑plow operations; several business owners warned that large monthly drainage or parking assessments would affect business viability. Multiple speakers suggested city‑run low‑cost storage or partnerships with private storage facilities as a way to reduce street clutter while avoiding disproportionate impacts on lower‑income residents.

What council directed and next steps

- Staff will continue targeted enforcement where parking creates safety problems and will evaluate corners and intersections where sight lines are obscured; staff said they will respond to reports and will examine specific problem locations.
- Police and city engineering will explore the traffic‑data subscription and report back to council on cost, data protections and whether the product can be used to support the $980,000 citywide speed study funded by grant dollars.
- Staff will evaluate whether additional CSO coverage downtown will improve enforcement and business outreach.

Ending: Chief Brown said the data tool and a more permanent CSO presence are intended to make enforcement faster and more consistent; councilors asked staff to return with cost, privacy and operational details before any purchase or ordinance changes.