People who get a parking ticket in Sharon will face only a $10 fine since the mayor decided that the $20 fine, which took effect in January, was too high.

Mayor David O. Ryan asked council Thursday to reduce the fine. He said it didn't really hit him how large the fine was until he saw a news story on a Youngstown television station.

"It kind of hit me like a sledge hammer," Ryan said.

At Ryan's recommendation, council raised the fines, but it was up to council to set the amount of the new fines.

The city has received numerous complaints since parking fines went up from $2 to $15 to $20 for curbside parking violations and $50 for fire-lane violations. The fines double if they're not paid within 72 hours.

Council agreed Thursday to lower the curbside parking fines to $10 and give people 10 business days to pay their fines before they double.

Council did not lower the fire-lane fine. All council members and the mayor agreed that parking in fire lanes poses a serious safety violation.

Councilman Raymond Fabian voted against lowering the fine despite the fact that he said he's heard many complaints.

"If I were a police officer, I wouldn't get out of my car in this weather to give out a ticket (for that amount)," Fabian said.

Police issued 19 fire-lane tickets and 24 curbside parking tickets so far this month, said Capt. Michael Menster. That's a total of $1,430.

Councilman Lou Rotunno said he thinks police should give a warning instead of issuing a ticket right away. "I bet you didn't write 19 tickets all of last year at the high school," he said.

Parking in the fire lane has been a problem at the high school. In February during a basketball brawl, emergency vehicles couldn't get to the school because of illegally parked cars.

Ryan said the problem with warnings is that police don't remember what cars represent first-time or repeat violations.

Though Rotunno said he's in agreement with raising revenue through consumable things like the sewer fees, he wants the city to be friendly to out-of-town visitors and business people.

"I'm amazed we've been so aggressive," Rotunno said. He added that enforcing the parking ordinances is especially aimed at people who work downtown and continually park in no-parking zones, such as on Vine Avenue between East State and Pitt streets.