You have to have a permit to park on a city street

[das_peikko]

I went to the VA Friday to get some free medicine for my cold virus. There's never been enough parking spaces on the VA parking lot, so I've been parking on a neighborhood side street ever since I first got my VA card in 1989. That all came to an abrupt end on Friday. When I got to my car, there was a nice little ticket on the windshield. Apparently, I was parking there without a permit.

I had absolutely no idea that after all these years, that I would now need a permit to park on a residential city street. I thought that's what we pay our DMV registration fees for. I know I needed to pay a parking meter if I was in a parking meter zone, but the thought never crossed my foggiest imagination that I would ever need a permit to park on a residential neighborhood city street. The fine is 58 dollars; that's small change to most people, but that's a lot of money to me. So therefore since tomorrow is a federal holiday, I'll be going downtown on Tuesday to beg for forgiveness. Please forgive me for being so clueless I will say.

 

[CT8]

Probably the I am a vet could help.

 

[Wolf359]

Sorry that happened to you. Around here it's been like that for a long time and each neighborhood has their own sticker requirement so if you're in a different neighborhood you can't park there either. Some neighborhoods have more stickers than parking spots, the worse ones have 5 stickers for every spot. Means that most people can't find a spot and they go right away whenever anyone moves. The perverse effect of this is that people rarely move their cars because they know when they come back, they won't likely find a parking spot.

 

[Garak]

Yes, it happens sometimes. Even here, near a campus or a stadium, there are residential permits on occasion.

 

[JamesBond]

The city may be closed tomorrow also. I've tried to fight a parking ticket before, it didn't work out for me, I'd be surprised if any city ever gives in on these tickets. I would guess people parking on the street and going to the VA is exactly why they made the rule in that neighborhood.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by JamesBond
The city may be closed tomorrow also. I've tried to fight a parking ticket before, it didn't work out for me, I'd be surprised if any city ever gives in on these tickets. I would guess people parking on the street and going to the VA is exactly why they made the rule in that neighborhood.


Depends on your city, I think in our city there were stats that said people win about 60% of the time they try to fight one.

 

[umungus1122]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by JamesBond
The city may be closed tomorrow also. I've tried to fight a parking ticket before, it didn't work out for me, I'd be surprised if any city ever gives in on these tickets. I would guess people parking on the street and going to the VA is exactly why they made the rule in that neighborhood.


Depends on your city, I think in our city there were stats that said people win about 60% of the time they try to fight one.


Yes, it depends on where you are. In most places, "I'm a vet getting my medication, and did not know of the new ordinance." should get the ticket dismissed.

 

[Leo99]

My in-laws live about a half mile from a train station that is about 40 miles to NYC. They complained about commuters parking on their street. They are elderly and the houses on the street do not have driveways. The residents all part on the street. Police took note of everyone's license over a day or two that was parking on the street and then instituted a permit only parking ban from 11am to 11:30am, Monday through Friday. It's worked out well. My wife can go visit at lunch time. The commuters found parking elsewhere.

 

[PimTac]

Doesn't there have to be signs posted about this?

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted by umungus1122

Yes, it depends on where you are. In most places, "I'm a vet getting my medication, and did not know of the new ordinance." should get the ticket dismissed.


I think the angle that there weren't adequate signs posted is stronger.

They say the three best defenses are, in order,

-- I actually didn't do it.
-- The law says there should be a sign but isn't.
-- emotion, why are you doing this to me?

 

[AdRock]

Originally Posted by das_peikko
I went to the VA Friday to get some free medicine for my cold virus. There's never been enough parking spaces on the VA parking lot, so I've been parking on a neighborhood side street ever since I first got my VA card in 1989. That all came to an abrupt end on Friday. When I got to my car, there was a nice little ticket on the windshield. Apparently, I was parking there without a permit.

I had absolutely no idea that after all these years, that I would now need a permit to park on a residential city street. I thought that's what we pay our DMV registration fees for. I know I needed to pay a parking meter if I was in a parking meter zone, but the thought never crossed my foggiest imagination that I would ever need a permit to park on a residential neighborhood city street. The fine is 58 dollars; that's small change to most people, but that's a lot of money to me. So therefore since tomorrow is a federal holiday, I'll be going downtown on Tuesday to beg for forgiveness. Please forgive me for being so clueless I will say.



Where in SA was this? Ive never run into this issue anywhere in town.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by das_peikko
I thought that's what we pay our DMV registration fees for.

I presume most states operate similarly and if so, the DMV is the state (TX). This ticket was issued by a particular city. They have no relationship.

Regarding your comment/question about permits, that is the case in a nearby city. The University of Dayton is located inside the city limits of Dayton but across the street is a different city. That city does issue parking tags to residents in that area that identifies their cars if parked on the street. This came about because students were parking on those streets and it must have been enough cars to "inconvenience" residents.

 

[das_peikko]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Doesn't there have to be signs posted about this?


There probably is, but first I have to jaywalk across a busy street without getting ran over; then I'm always looking at the neighborhood kitty cats on my way to the car. I was hoping they'd eventually put in a crosswalk going from the VA parking lot to the side street, but there's no reason for one now.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by Garak
Yes, it happens sometimes. Even here, near a campus or a stadium, there are residential permits on occasion.

Depends. I see different things. Around here, San Francisco and Berkeley both have areas with 2 hour parking unless one has a residential permit. The times may vary too. Some are M-F, but others are M-Sat. Some might even have it until 7/8/9PM although 8AM-6PM seems to be the most common. In San Francisco there was some controversy because the author Danielle Steele ended up getting something like 2 dozen permits for all the servants who worked for her.

Before we got married, wife had a permit in an area where there was 4 hour parking without the permit. It's by a public transit station that has issues with street parking. Often one side of the street is open parking, but the other side residential parking. Even a few blocks away they still have permit parking - sometimes on both sides of the street, but maybe just one side of the street far enough away.

As for stadium parking, I've seen various ways they handle that. In Berkeley, California there there are Cal football games, they'll literally make it no parking on game days with signs posted with all the game days. Not really residential, but in San Francisco they have meters that have demand pricing. Around the baseball stadium and Fishermans Wharf they'll up the price if it's an event day. Apparently up to $7/hr on event days, although there might be an 8 hour limit. They take credit cards. I also remember parking near Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California where they posted days where parking wouldn't be allowed all day.

I've been caught once by residential only parking. I didn't notice the sign, which was really over the street sweeping sign. It was residential parking ONLY from 8 AM to 9 PM. So they could ticket non-permitted cars at will without having to chalk the tires or check the license plates and come back.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I first saw this in Wrigleyville in Chicago...even when the Cubs weren't playing, it was a very popular nightlife area and parking was a real issue.
I think the system that was set up at first still allowed outside cars to park in the area for baseball games, but I'm not sure if it's still like that.
My friends and I basically stopped going to Wrigleyville for nighttime fun after that unless we happened to be on the train for some other reason, but the clubs in the area stayed plenty busy anyway. We were used to just going to Lincoln/Fullerton/Halsted if we couldn't find a spot around Wrigley, so that became our usual haunt when the parking stickers went into effect...there was a strip mall there that had gated parking during business hours, but if you stayed late enough they just opened the gates when the stores closed and the parking attendant left and you didn't have to show validation or pay. It was a great spot for those in the know!

 

[Driz]

If it was me I'd snap a couple of pictures of the area where you parked the show there wasn't any signs obviously painfully visible and I just do the court appointment not guilty. Go in there and state your case and have your VA records rate with you. I would imagine the judge will just dismiss it under the circumstances and if not what the heck you're no worse off than you were before. They're not gonna charge you anymore for going in and paying it in person or arguing your case then if you just signed a ticket and send a check so try it.
You have to remember a lot of these communities use these tickets as their favorite mode of Revenue Enhancement. If that's the case they're more than happy to steal everybody blind just make more money to promote their own interests. Then on the other hand you do find judges that are actually sensible. Who knows you might even have a judge that's a veteran himself. The thing with those silly little parking tickets is nobody ever goes in an argue Their case so when someone does come in it's a good cause for them to actually listen to their argument. If it's worth your time it's worth a shot.

 

[blupupher]

I agree with others, go take some pics where you had parked, how visible the sign is, go fight it even if there are signs. Who wrote the ticket (San Antonio Police, Parking enforcement, some other agency?)?)
The fact you have been doing this for 30 years with no issues can play into it, apologize for doing it now that it is illegal, promise to not do it any more, and use your past service (and thank you for it) and lack of parking at the VA for leniency.

If you end up having to pay, post up in this thread, I thing a few of us could help you out with that fine.

Thanks again for your service and we can make it right regardless.

I know the VA in Houston had some issues in the past. I have not been there is a long time since my Uncle passed, so no idea if it is better or worse.

 

[JLTD]

Please update us after you visit...the point about there being no signage is a good one...unless they passed a law city-wide.

I would go grab some pictures of the area to prepare for court.

 

[Rmay635703]

Around here there are no signs and you need a $15 a month permit that has your address to park street side by your own house.
You also have to follow alternate side parking 8 months a year.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by y_p_w
Depends. I see different things. Around here, San Francisco and Berkeley both have areas with 2 hour parking unless one has a residential permit. The times may vary too. Some are M-F, but others are M-Sat. Some might even have it until 7/8/9PM although 8AM-6PM seems to be the most common. In San Francisco there was some controversy because the author Danielle Steele ended up getting something like 2 dozen permits for all the servants who worked for her.

Yes, there are a couple differing examples. Saskatoon, when I was there, you could park two hours on the street near campus. That applied to everyone. Then they talked about residential permits, but I was gone by that time, so I don't know how it turned out. Here, the residential permits at the old stadium only applied during stadium events.

The two hour parking without a residential permit is fairly sensible. Here, for most residential neighborhoods, one can park something like 24 or 48 hours uninterrupted. In residential neighborhoods downtown, there's a two hour limit at non-metered stalls, with residential permits available for those that live there.

In Saskatoon, as I mentioned, they were looking to change things, primarily because it was actually cheaper to get parking tickets on the street than pay for parking, so the streets were still clogged. They were only issuing one ticket per day, and it was like $4. They did switch to multiple tickets per day and raised the rate, and were talking about residential permits.