Ketchikan harbor parking enforcement back after contract gap

Ketchikan's harbor parking lots are getting enforcement again after the city lacked a vehicle-removal contract for a few months, port officials told the Port and Harbors Advisory Board on Tuesday.

Board members raised concerns about derelict vehicles occupying harbor parking spaces for months. One member said he encounters people living in vehicles near the docks and described early-morning disturbances and drug activity in parking areas near boat access.

Port officials said police and parking enforcement are working through a backlog of abandoned vehicles across multiple lots now that a new contract is in place. Officials said some vehicles had already been removed from the harbormaster's lot.

"The borough does have that enforcement where they can come and take vehicles away, but we also do that, and they're slowly working on that," a port official said.

One board member said he goes to his boat early in the morning and encounters people living in vehicles and building projects in the parking areas. He said someone overdosed in the area within the past couple weeks. Another member pointed to a small SUV that's been parked at the old Bar Harbor entrance lot for months with 20 or 30 parking tickets on it.

Port officials clarified that the harbor parking lots are public parking managed by Public Works, not harbor-specific spaces. The borough also has enforcement authority to remove derelict vehicles under code enforcement rules.

One board member said the old Bar Harbor restaurant building near the parking area was supposed to come down two years ago. Officials said Public Works is waiting on a permit because the structure is considered a historical trestle.