ART ON ACADEMY The Mt. Lebanon Artists’ Market, sponsored by the Mt. Lebanon Partnership, returns to the Academy Avenue parking lot the first weekend of October, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The juried arts festival will feature 60 to 80 booths with professional quality, original art in a variety of media. Food and drink vendors on hand will be from Totopo, Southside BBQ, Revival Chili and Country Hammer Moonshine.

JUNIOR COMMISSIONERS CHOSEN FOR 2021-2022

Mt. Lebanon High School seniors Raafay Khan and Anna Mares are this year’s junior Mt. Lebanon Commissioners. Khan, Oxford Boulevard, is serving during the fall semester and Mares, Forestview Drive, will take over in the spring.

Khan has experience as a junior member of Mt. Lebanon’s Community Relations Board and liaison with the municipality’s diversity, equity and inclusion working group. He has won prizes in Model U.N. and mock trial competitions, and served as an intern with U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb’s 2020 campaign.

Mares also has Model U.N. and mock trial experience, and was part of a team that took second place in the worldwide Odyssey of the Mind competition during the previous school year. She has served on the staff of the Devil’s Advocate student newspaper, was recognized for superior writing by the National Council of Teachers of English and has had her poetry published in the Paper Crane Journal.

MT. LEBANON TO FEATURE IN-PERSON MEETINGS Last month, the Mt. Lebanon Commission and all municipal boards and authorities resumed in-person meetings, while still retaining the option to participate remotely.

Masks are required in all municipal buildings as long as Allegheny County remains in the substantial or high COVID-19 case rate zone. Masks will be available for anyone who does not have one. As in previous meetings, anyone who wants to speak during public hearings or the citizens comment segment of the meetings must state their name and address; the commission allots five minutes of time per speaker.

If you are participating remotely, you do not need to pre-register; click the link located on the meeting agenda and on the board’s page of the municipal website, www.mtlebanon.org. If you wish to speak during citizens comments or during public hearings, use the “raise hand” feature on Zoom, and you will be notified when it is your turn. Again, state your name and address and you will have five minutes for your comments.

NEW PARKING RULES Mt. Lebanon’s revised overnight parking rules take effect this month. The municipality prohibits on-street parking from 2 to 6 a.m., to allow for faster response for emergency vehicles and easier access for public works snowplows during nighttime snowstorms. Previously, residents with special circumstances, such as overnight guests, or driveway repairs, could request permission to park on the street on a case-by-case basis. A streamlined request process led to an overabundance of parking requests, putting a burden on police patrol officers charged with ensuring that only authorized vehicles occupied the streets.

Under the new regulations, residents are allowed 20 nights of overnight parking per year for each vehicle they own. The municipality arrived at the 20-night figure because the overwhelming majority of overnight parking requests were 20 or fewer times a year per resident.

The ordinance includes a couple of options for residents who don’t have parking available on their property: In areas where there is no public parking or suitable off-street parking within a tenth of a mile, residents can apply for permit parking zones in areas approved by the municipality. Also, under special circumstances, Mt. Lebanon can approve a special permit space for two-family or single-family homes for up to a year.

One thing that remains unchanged is that no requests will be granted if there is an inch or more of snow and ice forecast for the night.

Learn more about the new ordinance here.