Dear PoP – Parking Woes (Continued)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Jess J

“Dear PoP,

My DC parking woes continue. (I was screwed by the City’s self-correcting parking meters.) The latest involves vehicle registration/zone stickers. See below for the story; I would be curious if this has happened to any of your other readers?

I recently moved. My new place is in a different “parking zone”, as defined by DC. As a result, I had to get a new Residential Parking Permit (“RPP”) from the DMV so that I could park on the street in front of my new place. (The RPP is the sticker all DC-registered cars have in the lower left hand corner of their windshields.) DC will only give you a new RPP if you bring in the old RPP.

This morning [Thurs.] I drove over to the DMV, parked directly in front of the DMV Service Center, removed the RPP from my windshield, and after thankfully only an hour wait, I exchanged my old RPP (and seven bucks) for a new one. I returned to my car to find a $100 parking ticket for failure to display the RPP, which apparently also serves as the vehicle’s registration tag. How unjust is that? The City requires you to turn in your old RPP to get a new one, but then tickets you for failure to display the RPP!”

Insane.