Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Parking Miracle!

Effective immediately, parking regulations will be enforced seven days a week. That means church parkers and Saturday night partyers can no longer block our hydrants, alleys, intersections, or other parked cars. If one can be giddy about parking enforcement, I am. My city government has now given me two fantastic gifts this year, the first being cab meters at a decent fare rate.

So the infamous church parking debate will begin anew. In fact Metropolitan Baptist/ Vermont Avenue parking are on the agenda for tomorrow night's ANC meeting. (The rest of the agenda can be viewed here.) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's less drama in this chapter of the parking enforcement tale. Whatever side you are on, if you happen to attend the ANC meeting, or even comment on the blog, please do your best to avoid baiting those with opposing views by bringing race or gentrification into the conversation. Let's also avoid holding a vigil in Logan Circle; this is a parking and safety issue, not a civil rights issue.

The one area where I think enforcement stinks is in front of Logan Station. After using orange cones to lay claim to the better part of the south side of the 1200 block of R Street, they now have the building entrance designated as a no parking zone. Mr. 14th & You happened not to be tuned in to the new parking signs and was given two parking tickets when he didn't move his car for a week. I am, however, willing to concede defeat on that issue.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who do we call for enforcement? Double parking all along 15th between S and Swann today.

Anonymous said...

My on-street Zipcar spot at 14th and Q was occupied by a non-Zipcar (MD plates) when I tried to return the car around noon today. I called 911 to report the car and within 5 minutes MPD was there ticketing the car. When I asked if the car would be towed, they told me that the tow truck won't come out on Sundays. So much for full enforcement. . .

Mr. Other Upper NW said...

Well, at the ANC meeting the litmus test that was told to us was "if you want the MPD to respond, call 911". Now, I get frustrated and irritated by the lack of parking enforcement, but I'm loathe to request MPD assistance when it's not an emergency situation, and I know the police do (or should) have better ways to spend their time.

Yesterday (Sunday), at around 1 PM there wre two cars parked into the crosswalk at on R St. at 13th. It was a blatant example of illegal parking. So we called 311, and spoke with a very friendly dispatcher who took down the make and model of the cars, the license plates, and their exact location. Unfortunately, no one from parking enforcement responded and 45 minutes later the cars were still there, unticketed. So it looks like it's not a perfect solution yet, perhaps next time I *will8 call 911 just to see if I get a response.

Anonymous said...

To zipcar member - you don't need to call 911, just call Zipcar. They'll tow the car for you.

Anonymous said...

I did call Zipcar and they told me to just park the car somewhere else on the street and let them know of the location. They said they were not going to call to get the car towed, so I did it myself.