parking

“Just hoping someone can help me clarify whether I’m in the wrong here or whether there’s a rule I can cite in contesting the ticket!”

By Prince Of Petworth

why-ticket

Emergency No Parking restrictions?

“Can anyone tell me what the rules are re: where you can park in relation to Emergency No Parking signs? I’ve been trying to find this online and inexplicably can’t find the answer on any DC govt websites.

I imagine the rule is that you can’t park in between the signs, which is why they give you a whole bunch to post, and which makes sense. I got a $50 ticket on Tuesday for parking about 8 feet away from the 3rd of 3 signs; there was a construction dumpster solidly in between those signs, which is what the permit was for. The ticket says “Signs Posted; Signs Clearly Posted” …. yes – 8 feet away. Someone else parked there within minutes of my leaving the space, too.

Just hoping someone can help me clarify whether I’m in the wrong here or whether there’s a rule I can cite in contesting the ticket!”

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“as long as the cover is on it he can park here forever because DDOT and MPD don’t want to be responsible for any potential damage”

By Prince Of Petworth

car

“Dear PoPville,

We have a neighbor on the 1800 Block of Vermont Street NW who decided over 6+ months ago that the parking spot in front of his house is now officially his and while the rest of us have to jockey around for parking spots and move our cars during Street Sweeping days/hours he doesn’t.

You can’t tell from the photo since his car is 99% of the time covered with a grey tarp but it’s an older Red Mustang Convertible and the only time we saw it uncovered we saw he (young guy – possibly college age) did have DC Tags but a Registration/Parking Permit that expired October 2014. He’s also so brazen that the few times when the car is not there we’ve seen orange traffic and construction cones blocking the spot so no one else can park there. Then a few hours later he’s parked there again with the cover on.

The next door neighbor once politely (although I wasn’t there to confirm) asked to him to play by the rules and was apparently cursed out (again I wasn’t there) and physically intimated just by his large size and have since left notes, called 311, and even flagged down an MPD who have said as long as the cover is on it he can park here forever because DDOT and MPD don’t want to be responsible for any potential damage by removing it to ticket or tow him.

One one hand we give him props for figuring out a way to outsmart the system. On the other we’d like him to follow the same rules as all of us and gain (if he doesn’t renew his plates) a much needed additional street parking spot. Anything we can do to get him to move the car or get someone in DC Government to assist?

BTW – These pictures were taken during Street Sweeping hours yesterday.”

Honest Mistake or Fabricating Evidence?

By Prince Of Petworth

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A reader reported back in April:

“Why is DC DPW issuing bogus tix? Parked at location for 51mins, it’s NOT a zone 2 RPP ONLY as stated.”

And follow up this morning:

“Tix dismissed, but no answer from DC DPW regarding ofc fabricating pic ‘evidence’ from diff location”

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What can be done when a Diplomat parks in your reserved spot?

By Prince Of Petworth

diplomate move
Photo by PoPville flickr user Tyler Nelson

“Dear PoPville,

We live on a busy street in Dupont and had spots reserved legally through the city for our u-Haul. We paid the $55 fee and posted the signs the required 72 hours in advance. The morning of our move, a diplomat parked right in the middle of our spot (DC problems, right?). The city can’t ticket or tow them, so we are screwed trying to find new parking for a box truck in the middle of our very busy neighborhood, having to walk our heavy book cases, mattresses etc all the way down the block. Anyone ever had a similar issues?? Is there anything that can be done?”

Kosher or Uncool?

By Prince Of Petworth

parking

“Dear PoPville,

This afternoon I landed a spot at the end of a Zone 1 parking only section demarcated by a sign. Being a good neighbor, I parked in the spot and backed as far up as I could and still be within the sign behind my bumper. This left a gap about a half car length in front of me, but since I move my car very infrequently, I think this is the right thing to do, so as to minimize any awkward spacing if I don’t move my car for a few weeks. Basically my car acts as the new end of the section. 4 hours later I found this mini’s bumper pressed into the front of my car, and leaving about a centimeter between it’s front bumper and the next car in front of it.

Should I have just rolled forward into the empty partial space in front of me to prevent this sort of poor decision-making by other parkers? I more than anyone get the desperation for a spot in my neighborhood having circled the neighborhood for an hour looking more than once, but is this kind of bumper car strategy fair game if the car can “fit”. First world problems I know but curious what other think.”

“The city towed me to Mass. Ave where my car proceeded to rack up an additional $400 in rush hour parking citations”

By Prince Of Petworth

parking
Photo by PoPville flickr user Josh Bassett

“Dear PoPville,

I recently returned from a 10-day vacation to find that my car was towed for parking in a street cleaning zone on P Street NW. (I expected a ticket, not to be towed.) The kicker, though, is what happened next: The city towed me to Massachusetts Avenue NW, where my car proceeded to rack up an additional $400 in rush hour parking citations.

Why on earth would the city tow my car to one of the district’s busiest streets? I’m guessing the answer is simple: Easy revenue (fairness be damned). Oh, and for the record: I’m challenging it.”

“The company and the garage have the worst service of any company I have ever experienced (maybe save for Comcast)”

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

My boyfriend and I live in Shaw, and because we live in a building that has a parking garage (at a price tag of over $200 a month) we are not eligible for a DC street parking permit. We pay DC taxes, we have DC plates on our car, but we cannot park on the streets of the city where we live.

Because we cannot park on the street, we have to deal with the parking companies. The company that runs the lot in our building is U Street Parking. They own a significant amount of the parking garages and lots in DC (between U Street Parking and Laz, they seem to own almost all the garages). In this particular garage, they seem to make most of their money off of valet parking and those who park in the garage for work.

The company and the garage have the worst service of any company I have ever experienced (maybe save for Comcast). The parking fob that we use to get in and out of the garage almost never works. We have frequently been stuck in the garage unable to get out or outside of the garage unable to get in because the fob does not work. This is especially infuriating on a weekend when there is no one in the office. They will assign us a new fob, and the new fob is also non functional. When we call, staff is unapologetic about the recurring issues. I have left endless unreturned voicemails with the “manager,” but I’m sure my calls are going to some unanswered line. I know this is a very first world problem, but because we cannot park on the street, we have no other choice in where to park our car (and U Street Parking knows this). They get away with poor service and I feel like we are flushing money down the drain every month. Our building accepts our complaints, but claims they cannot do anything because the parking lot is owned and managed by U Street Parking and is not within their domain.

I wish we could get rid of the car, but my boyfriend needed the car to get to work in a non-metro accessible area of Virginia. And with all the track work and general metro dysfunction, without the car, we wouldn’t be able to get anywhere outside of the District on the weekends. I know others in our building are frustrated too, but other than moving, we don’t seem to have any options. Have others had similar experiences and/or dealt more effectively with this company?”

You Fail!

By Prince Of Petworth

cars

@kevin_caldwell1 tweets us:

“Car on Unit blk of V St NW overnite by hydrant, spots open nearby when both photos taken, def. not a parking academy”

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