Parking Ticket Question

[zstyles]

Well I called the Municipal Court today and the lady seemed annoyed that I was given a ticket for parking in the ally, but said that I could pay the bond and set a court date and contest the ticket. I took a photo of my truck parked under the 30 minute sign but I am really not sure if this would be worth my time to even do all these hoops...its a 30.00 ticket FYI. My gut told me to go park in the BOA building parking garage but live and learn!

[Red Arrow]

No one in the suburbs has to pay for parking to get a cup of coffee.

It would seem that way but it is actually built into to everyone's cup of coffee rather than just the pockets of the rich few.

[AquaMan]

It would seem that way but it is actually built into to everyone's cup of coffee rather than just the pockets of the rich few.

More of that creeping socialism I guess. Having to pay for parking forced a lot of downtown businesses to move to the suburbs where they could control their own parking needs at a lower cost. Cheaper land and moving populations also drove that, but parking was always one of the reasons.

I have a real hatred for parking meters. I wonder if anyone has ever really done a study as to their effectiveness as a revenue generator. I know that they are also, ostensibly, to control limited parking but come on. Its a 1930's solution to a problem that has better solutions today. And limited parking is not the problem downtown now. Parking meters merely strengthen the private parking lot operations. Second on that list of hated downtown sacred cows is the profitability of those private parking lots and how it has adversely affected best use of the land.

[Conan71]

More of that creeping socialism I guess. Having to pay for parking forced a lot of downtown businesses to move to the suburbs where they could control their own parking needs at a lower cost. Cheaper land and moving populations also drove that, but parking was always one of the reasons.

I have a real hatred for parking meters. I wonder if anyone has ever really done a study as to their effectiveness as a revenue generator. I know that they are also, ostensibly, to control limited parking but come on. Its a 1930's solution to a problem that has better solutions today. And limited parking is not the problem downtown now. Parking meters merely strengthen the private parking lot operations. Second on that list of hated downtown sacred cows is the profitability of those private parking lots and how it has adversely affected best use of the land.

I share your ire with the parking meters, but they actually serve a useful purpose in trying to help businesses survive in a land of limited store-front parking.  The idea is to keep some creep who works in an office over your deli from tying up potential customer parking space all day.

[jacobi]

Second on that list of hated downtown sacred cows is the profitability of those private parking lots and how it has adversely affected best use of the land.

That is unquestionably No. 1 on my list.  

[AquaMan]

I understand one of the meters' purpose was to keep the deli parking available to customers, even though there aren't many deli's or retail spots in the heart of downtown anymore. But the reason the guy who worked over the deli parked there was because his landlord didn't provide a parking space with the office, he insisted on driving his full size sedan to work when he could have rode a bike and parked it in the basement of the building, or rode a bus or walked if he lived downtown.

That scenario was based on rules that allowed office buildings and restaurants to not provide parking, which forced the city to provide and regulate for them. Stuff we find objectionable under today's political climate.

That is all changing now. This is a great time to take stock of how that scenario is not accurate anymore and how parking meters and cornering the market on private parking lots is more about revenue generation for the players than about service and efficiency.

[custosnox]

Can you say 'bench warrant'?  How delinquent is it?

Months. But it was a parking ticket, so it was written on the car not me.  With that, wasn't there something about the reason that they can't do red light camera's is because you can't ticket a car?

[Gaspar]

I understand one of the meters' purpose was to keep the deli parking available to customers, even though there aren't many deli's or retail spots in the heart of downtown anymore. But the reason the guy who worked over the deli parked there was because his landlord didn't provide a parking space with the office, he insisted on driving his full size sedan to work when he could have rode a bike and parked it in the basement of the building, or rode a bus or walked if he lived downtown.

That scenario was based on rules that allowed office buildings and restaurants to not provide parking, which forced the city to provide and regulate for them. Stuff we find objectionable under today's political climate.

That is all changing now. This is a great time to take stock of how that scenario is not accurate anymore and how parking meters and cornering the market on private parking lots is more about revenue generation for the players than about service and efficiency.

Don't think parking meters are political, nor are pay parking lots.  Be it municipality or private business, when approximately 171sf of space can yield $8 to $20 dollars a day in revenue with little overhead, that equals more than the average yearly rate/sf for the lease of commercial property downtown.  It's a major profit center that must be factored in to the price/barrier of doing business downtown.

I paid $4 for a 1hr parking meter in Pittsburgh to attend a meeting last year.  We have it easy here.

[dbacks fan]

Months. But it was a parking ticket, so it was written on the car not me.  With that, wasn't there something about the reason that they can't do red light camera's is because you can't ticket a car?

With red light cameras, and speed cameras for that fact, the photos plainly show the driver of the car which can or cannot place you in the car. A lot of the speed camera tickets were tossed out in Phoenix because spouses would drive each others cars (if not on the registration), and if the photo of the offense does not match the registered owner they can't enforce the ticket. Most people would say, "That's not me in the photo."

[sauerkraut]

It may be  best to pay the ticket and be done with it, Driving downtown to fight the ticket is alot of hassle and as always finding parking downtown  is a bear. When I have to go downtown I just take the bus, sure it's alot of hassle but no parking fees, parking tickets, or other worries. The last time I went downtown was to fight my homes apprasal value the first year I bought it. I took the bus to the tax office place.... I got a parking ticket in downtown Fort Worth back in the mid-1980's I did not see any "No parking sign", I put money in the meter, I came back 5-10 minutes latter and found a ticket on my truck, seems there was another sign that said no parking between certain hours or something like that, back then the ticket was $10.00- I just paid it. The parking ticket people work fast.

[AquaMan]

Yeah, cause there is no parking downtown. No huge empty lots. No parking meters. No multi level garages.

Crying shame really.

[Townsend]

Yeah, cause there is no parking downtown. No huge empty lots. No parking meters. No multi level garages.

Crying shame really.

Dang it, don't move.  If you don't move, he can't see you.

[patric]

Wasn't there something about the reason that they can't do red light camera's is because you can't ticket a car?

Cant find the statute, but the Tulsa Whirled made reference to it: 
"The (state) law dictates that a police officer must personally come in contact with the violator and personally hand he or she the citation, "
and that another state law forbids private vendors (like for-profit camera operators) from running license tags.
The Turnpike Authority apparently has a statutory exception.

Just as well, because a lot of municipalities are removing red light and speed cameras.

[AquaMan]

Don't think parking meters are political, nor are pay parking lots.  Be it municipality or private business, when approximately 171sf of space can yield $8 to $20 dollars a day in revenue with little overhead, that equals more than the average yearly rate/sf for the lease of commercial property downtown.  It's a major profit center that must be factored in to the price/barrier of doing business downtown.

I paid $4 for a 1hr parking meter in Pittsburgh to attend a meeting last year.  We have it easy here.

Honestly, I thought this would be right up your alley. The current rules promote over regulation through parking meters, tickets, towaways etc. and diminishes the productivity of the whole area as choice land is paved over for parking.

Everything is political. Change the rules just a bit to reflect today's politics and all those poor use parking lots change hands and become profitable in a different way. A way that engenders more citizen usage, more jobs and better quality of life for more people. In the current environment, regulation of parking is making a few people money and pissing off the rest of us.

Add one rule that says for every X amount of square feet of a building Y number of secure bike storage must be made available and you increase that segment.

Add another rule that says any multi story building must provide adequate parking for its tenants (grandfathered) and you not only stimulate multi level parking but in off times that building can be rented for event parking making it a profit center without the ugly.

Add downtown specific shuttles since we're all so fat and lazy we don't want to walk more than a block from our destinations.

Read AdmiralTwin's post. I never have trouble finding a spot downtown at any time. The perception that parking downtown is expensive and complicated dies hard. Make entire areas free and publicize it.

Or, invest in broken asphalt lots, sit back and watch the area continue to grow parking lots till equilibrium occurs.

[Gaspar]

Honestly, I thought this would be right up your alley. The current rules promote over regulation through parking meters, tickets, towaways etc. and diminishes the productivity of the whole area as choice land is paved over for parking.

Everything is political. Change the rules just a bit to reflect today's politics and all those poor use parking lots change hands and become profitable in a different way. A way that engenders more citizen usage, more jobs and better quality of life for more people. In the current environment, regulation of parking is making a few people money and pissing off the rest of us.

Add one rule that says for every X amount of square feet of a building Y number of secure bike storage must be made available and you increase that segment.

Add another rule that says any multi story building must provide adequate parking for its tenants (grandfathered) and you not only stimulate multi level parking but in off times that building can be rented for event parking making it a profit center without the ugly.

Add downtown specific shuttles since we're all so fat and lazy we don't want to walk more than a block from our destinations.

Read AdmiralTwin's post. I never have trouble finding a spot downtown at any time. The perception that parking downtown is expensive and complicated dies hard. Make entire areas free and publicize it.

Or, invest in broken asphalt lots, sit back and watch the area continue to grow parking lots till equilibrium occurs.

  Ahhh. If metered parking spots discourage people from doing business downtown, wouldn't it be wise to eliminate them?  As for private parking lots, eliminate the meters, and the costly private lots will be less attractive and make less money.  Make the private lots less lucrative, and the owners may wish to develop or sell the properties.  The additional properties will drive down the cost of DT development, and businesses will be more attracted by the free parking.  As you plan the developments pull in the sidewalks 6 feet and you have 45 degree free parking, tripling your capacity.

Could the only catalyst we need simply be the elimination of metered city parking?