parking

“These spots are still going unused and have been for years”

By Prince Of Petworth


12th and H Street, NE

A reader reports:

“These spots are still going unused and have been for years. That DDOT has not taken any action has closed off two parking spots to neighbors who cannot park there because the disabled residents have since moved.

This is my original message from 10 January: “I am contacting you about three reserved disability parking spots in the front of 808-818 12th St NE. A number of these houses have sold in the past year, and the handicapped residents who occupied them have moved, yet the reserved parking remains unused by the neighborhood because the signs are still up. I am requesting a review of these three reserved spots (which take up this half of the block) to determine which are still in use by residents.”

Legit or Counterfeit No Parking Sign?

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I recently noticed new signs up on the north side of the 1400 block of Morse St. NE that say “Resident Parking Only – 6PM to 3AM – Resident or Visitor Permit Required” threatening a tow and $250 fine.

What gives? I’ve previously lived in Adams Morgan, Mt. Pleasant, U Street, and Petworth, and only saw zone permit parking only or 2 hour limit enforced 24/7. Is this a new kind of restriction, and if so, why those hours?”

Heads Up if You Park on Johnson Ave on Mondays

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

This happened on April 2 and I am just getting around to filling out the contesting forms online. I was parked on Johnson Ave around 9:30AM and received a street cleaning violation ticket. There was NO sign posted. [It looks like maybe the sign they used is from the complete other end of the block, but still. It’s not visible at all from where I parked.] VS. the photo of the sign that they included in my ticket (you can look on the TicPix service) is clearly from a different location and does not include my car in it. The photos they took that included my car had the (empty) sign post cropped out.”

“To me this seems like a lack of support on the part of the Wharf for the fish market”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I was rather surprised by my experience today going to the fish market and parking. Colonial Parking’s sign (attached) shows the first hour costing $2 instead of $10 with fish market validation. I stayed for just over an hour and a half and was charged the full price of two hours ($17) with no discount for validation. For a visit less than two hours, one would naturally assume that $8 would be taken off the overall price based on the pricing structure. (more…)

PSA: Remember to Call 202-541-6083 To Verify You’re No Parking Permits

By Prince Of Petworth

Oof, painful/expensive lesson from Stevie:

“HEY THANKS NEIGHBOR FOR RIPPING DOWN MY SIGNS. Also glad that NOWHERE on said sign informed me that I had to call to have them verified. I just double checked my emails from my app process and SHOCKING it’s not in there. So for trying to be a good citizen I spent $60 and posted 72 hours in advance for NOTHING.

The 311 rep I spoke with acted like it was very common knowledge. She was very kind and felt badly for me but there was nothing she could do.”

In fairness, DDOT responded:

“Can you send me your tracking number, we’ll take a look at this for you. Generally, the verification instructions are on the second page printed out with the permit and listed on our website.”

Update from Stevie:

“Someone just reached out from the permit office– was super helpful and apologetic. Also, said a new and more clear permit process will be out shortly.”

Ed. Note: Call 202-541-6083 Monday to Saturday to verify signs: Sign Verification Procedures (PDF).

“Does anyone know what’s going on?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I’m hoping we can get the word out about this vehicle that has been parked in the same exact spot on Newton St NW in Mt Pleasant since this summer. It’s parked on Newton St NW, between Brown and 17th St.

I finally called 311 personally about 2 weeks ago; it appears to be abandoned and should be towed away. It looks like nothing has been done, except it received a 2nd ticket for not being registered in DC. (more…)

“Parking Proposal Pits Residents against Small Business”

By Prince Of Petworth

The following was written by PoPville contributor David McAuley, founder of Short Articles about Long Meetings.

A proposal to make on-street parking more difficult for non-residents brought local businesspeople and residents out to the meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2E/Georgetown Monday night (December 4).

ANC2E Chair Joe Gibbons characterized “the meat” of the proposal: for every local block that is part of the District’s Residential Permit Parking (RPP) program, one side of the street will be reserved for local residents and guests. The other side will be “for anybody”. As it stands now, any Ward Two resident with a permit can drive to Georgetown and enjoy the benefits of on-street parking under the RPP program.

The proposal brought local businesspeople out to oppose the plan, which they claimed would drive away customers. (more…)

“$110 per move is also not cheap for a system that has failed me.”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I moved back in April and again this past weekend (far too many moves for any 1 person). Both times I reserved parking, paying the $55.00 at each location fee to do so. Inevitably, someone is parking in the spot during the assigned time, which prevented me from moving the U-Haul into the correct spot. As frustrating as this was, I became even more frustrated when both in April and again this weekend, DPW Parking Enforcement was both rude to me and did nothing. The staffers at Parking Enforcement first require you to call 72 hours before your move to have someone come out and confirm the signs have been put up. In April, I called and they never sent anyone out. So, when I called on the day of the move, they told me I hadn’t had the signs verified so they couldn’t tow the vehicle.

This time on move day, I called 5 times over the course of a 12 hour period (I had the signs for 24 hours, so I could get things packed up the night before). They kept telling me they were sending someone out to ticket and then I would need to call back to have them towed. No one came even to ticket. I also was told to email a picture of my signs, but got no response to that.

I didn’t want to get my neighbors towed, but I also didn’t want to block traffic with my U-Haul. $110 per move is also not cheap for a system that has failed me.

Not normally one to complain about city services, but this is driving me crazy.”

Ed. Note: Wait a minute…

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