LEWISTON – A more flexible winter parking plan would be more expensive, according to city officials.

The city currently bans overnight parking on all city streets between midnight and 6 a.m. beginning Dec. 1 through April 15. Adopting a Portland-style system would require changes to city policy and put more tow trucks on the road, according to Assistant City Administrator Phil Nadeau.

“It would almost certainly mean more cars would get towed,” Nadeau said

City Councilor Robert Connors said he was approached by a downtown landlord with four apartments to rent. Two of the apartments are vacant because the building only has two off-street parking spaces. Tenants are reluctant to move downtown if they don’t have a reliable place to put their car.

“I just wanted to generate a discussion about our parking policies and what we might be able to do to make it easier” Connor said.

The current ban makes it easier for city snow plows and sanding trucks to get around city streets during storms. The city begins putting notices on cars parked overnight about a week before the parking ban begins to remind residents that they need to find a better place for the car.

“The result is people are more familiar with the ban,” Nadeau said. “We end up towing very few cars as a result.”

Police work with residents, trying to notify car owners before the car gets towed.

That would change if the city moved to more flexible system, like Portland’s. Drivers there can park on the street unless there is a looming storm.

“We’d have more people who don’t find out about the ban, and we’d end up towing a lot more cars,” Nadeau said.

The city would also need to set up a centralized lot for towed cars. Currently, private tow companies take the cars back to their own lots.

“And that would mean staffing and controlling that lot as well,” Nadeau said.

Councilors agreed they favored the current program.

“This is something that would cost more money during a time of tight budgets,” said Councilor Renee Bernier.

Connors did ask Nadeau to find out how many Maine cities have similar parking bans and how many cars they actually tow. Nadeau said he would report back to the council at a later meeting.