parking

Update: It was a typo. 14 hour parking restrictions or a typo?

By Prince Of Petworth

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Update: It was a typo but DDOT fixed it!

“Dear PoPville,

Street sweeping signs were recently put up on our street. While reading the sign I noticed that it indicates parking restrictions on Wednesdays from 9:30pm-11:30am. The other side of the street is now restricted on Thursdays, also from 9:30pm-11:30am. I’m assuming these mean no parking from 9:30pm on the stated day to 11:30am of the following day. Are 14 hour parking restrictions for residential street sweeping new? I usually only see them in 2 hour blocks so I’m hoping someone just made the signs incorrectly. I emailed DPW about this but have not yet heard back.”

Odd that it’s on both sides of the street but is it just a typo and should read 9:30am-11:30am?

“$5k+ in violations, yet vehicle never gets booted or towed”

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

Over past few months my neighbors and I have noticed a “shady” vehicle that often parks in our street. The car’s registration and inspection expired over a year ago. This past weekend I decided to check the tags for outstanding violations and sure enough, I found that it has 38 outstanding violations totaling $5,307.

My question is, when does the DPW decide that a vehicle has enough tickets to boot and/or tow? We have called 311 to report the car whenever we see it, but parking enforcement only seems to ticket (they usually issue up to 3 tickets at the same time) but never request a boot/tow.

The scary part is knowing that if this person hasn’t renewed the registration in over a year, it is most likely they are driving around without insurance or without a driver’s license for that matter!”

“The car in this picture has been parked in this spot for 6 years”

By Prince Of Petworth

parking

“Dear PoPville,

Hey! Can you park a car indefinitely on a DC street if you have the right permit? The car in this picture has been parked on P St., between 15th and 16th, for as long as I have lived in Logan Circle (six years). I’ve never seen it driven or in a different spot anywhere else on the steet. The one time I saw the car uncovered it was full of (what appeared to be) old junk – full on hoarder style. Its owner was looking for stuff in the backseat and started screaming at me incoherently as I did a double-take. Every time I walk by the car I’m curious about it and figured that PoPville may know the story…”

“Does anyone know if they will be suspending street sweeping this week in and around the Convention Center area?”

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

I live within the area of NW DC near the Convention Center that the Secret Service have already shut down parking for this week for the Nuclear Security Summit. I moved my car to just outside the no parking zone on Easter but am concerned about street sweeping. If I move my car, there is no way I will find another parking spot until next week. I am already planning on using the bus for my commute this week. Yesterday, I tried calling the number listed on this flier (DDOT James Strange) and left him a voicemail to return my call. Does anyone know if they will be suspending street sweeping this week in and around the Convention Center area?”

“Two of the spaces are frequently given tickets (as in over 10 per day) and appear to be targeted by the parking enforcement employees.”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Elvert Barnes

“Dear PoPville,

There is metered parking outside my office (corner of 10th and G Streets, NW). It also falls in the variable rate parking zone that the city is experimenting with.

Two of the spaces (parkmobile zone 22651, spaces 0616 and 0617) are frequently given tickets (as in over 10 per day) and appear to be targeted by the parking enforcement employees.

The spaces have dual-zones: 2 hour parking and commercial zone parking within a subset of time. Difficult to quickly read the signs.

Basically, people think they can park there and when they go to the kiosk and enter the space number, it lets them pay for parking even though it is illegal for them to park there. Typically, the parkmobile app and kiosks will not allow you to pay for parking in a space when it is illegal to park there.

Just want to try to rectify it so folks don’t have their days ruined by getting a ticket!”

Atrocious Parking or Hit and Run?

By Prince Of Petworth

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A reader reports:

“Another prime example of our skilled drivers. Yes the driver left the car like that and after a few hour it still is like. Columbia Heights.”

When parking jobs are this bad, it’s usually a result of getting hit by a car. Though never underestimate…

Update: “Just realized this was a hit and run — police came at 11:30PM with the owner of the car to take note of the crash. I took this picture this AM.”

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Visitor Parking Pass spotted on Craiglist for $60 – Does a significant black market exist for them?

By Prince Of Petworth

Free parking - DC 2016 Visitors Parking Pass (any zone)

“Dear PoPville,

A resident pointed out to our ANC (Mount Pleasant) that there’s an ad on Craigslist offering “Free parking — DC 2016 Visitors Parking Pass (any zone) — $60”. The Visitor Parking Passes are very popular among residents, allowing them to have guests, or contractors, without having to worry about RPP parking tickets. But from the beginning, there’s been concern that the VPPs would be abused, sold to commuters with jobs in neighborhood businesses. Should that abuse be widespread, the VPP program could well be cancelled.

The law is clear: “DCMR 18, 2414.18: The forgery, counterfeiting, sale, exchange for value, or unauthorized use or replication of an annual visitor parking pass shall be punishable by a fine of three hundred dollars ($300).” That means that both the seller of a VPP (including a legitimately obtained pass), and the user (a commuter, not a visitor to the owner of the VPP), are subject to $300 fines. The serial numbers on the VPPs make it easy to connect an improperly used VPP to its resident owner.

Is this a substantial problem in this area? If so, then measures will have to be taken to stop abuse, and preserve the VPP program for residents who use it properly.

— Jack McKay
ANC 1D03″

Sketchy, Sketchy Valet Parking Practices Alleged at the Atlantic Cinema Last Night

By Prince Of Petworth

atlantic
807 V Street, NW

“Dear PoPville,

I had an interesting interaction at Atlantic Cinema Theater tonight. I was going to see the 730 show of Hail Caesar. When I drove up to the theater the entire parking lane in front of the cinema had construction cones on the curb and emergency no parking signs on the street lights. I pulled out in front of one of the lights to read the restrictions since I assumed it was a daytime no parking order for a moving truck. I was shocked to see it was for a moving truck from 4:00 pm-11:00 pm. While I was looking at the sign a guy in a valet uniform from mj parking became up and asked me what I was doing. (more…)

“Do I have a realistic shot at fighting either the parking citation and/or tow fee?”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Phil

“Dear PoPville,

A couple weeks ago, I parked my car in an ambiguously marked tow away rush hour lane. Sure enough, when I got back the car was gone and towed off by the city.

Yes, I made a mistake parking it there, but the District definitely made a pretty bad mistake towing my AWD car at least half a mile by its front wheels without a rear dolly or flatbedding my car – totally against standard practice for towing an AWD vehicle. Long story short, $4k+ in damages to the differential and driveshaft; fortunately, my insurer is stepping in and hopefully will pursue a claim against DC’s towing service that will cover the insurer’s costs and my deductible.

I’m not writing so much about the damages, which I am upset about – fortunately they’re a sliver short of totaling the car.

The real reason I’m writing is that I think I may have a technicality that gets me around the $200 in parking fines and/or towing fees and want your advice. (more…)

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