Parking Ticket at the Town of Lauderdale by The sea (Miami: live, prices)

[gidat1]

Be warned. The town thrives on giving out parking tickets.

This afternoon I went for a lunch at the ElMar Dr. beach area. I was very cautious as per feeding the parking meter. Upon returning to my car I was dismayed to find a parking ticket on my windshield. It seems they gave me a ticket for not parking on the space. The parking meters are very confusing to figure out. There were quite a few white lines. My car was three feet over one of the white lines. I was given a $ 25.00 ticket for it by a very rude parking ticket lady. They do not care how you treat a tourist.
Next time if I ever visit the area I will go out of my way to not patronize any businesses in this unfriendly town who does nor realise that they exists because of tourist DOLLARS.
PhilP

[macguy]

Originally Posted by gidat1

Be warned. The town thrives on giving out parking tickets.

This afternoon I went for a lunch at the ElMar Dr. beach area. I was very cautious as per feeding the parking meter. Upon returning to my car I was dismayed to find a parking ticket on my windshield. It seems they gave me a ticket for not parking on the space. The parking meters are very confusing to figure out. There were quite a few white lines. My car was three feet over one of the white lines. I was given a $ 25.00 ticket for it by a very rude parking ticket lady. They do not care how you treat a tourist.
Next time if I ever visit the area I will go out of my way to not patronize any businesses in this unfriendly town who does nor realise that they exists because of tourist DOLLARS.
PhilP

Were you not 3 feet over the line? You were taking two spaces, did you put money in both meters? You deserved the ticket, sorry.

[Prichard]

If it were three inches, I could understand your complaint. But, 3 feet?

One other thing. You state that you found the ticket on your windshield upon returning from lunch. Then you say it seems they gave you a ticket for not parking in the parking space. So far, the picture that I have in my mind is that the ticket was sitting on your windshield, and there was no meter reader around at this point. So, how is it that the parking ticket lady was very rude to you?

[tallrick]

I have a policy to never do business in a place where you have to pay for parking. If the local government cares more about money for themself than helping it's economy, I say go somewhere that does. This is why I avoid Miami Beach and most of east Broward. At least in Key Largo they treat you a lot better. Believe it or not we LOVE tourists, we just don't want them to stay too long..LOL! I make it a point to tell all tourists all about the realities of summer in Florida, while they enjoy the wonderful winter weather!

[Prichard]

The real problem is that our Country has turned into a place where people expect other people, other companies, or the government to employ them.

It used to be that people made their own way by farming, making things and selling them, or selling services to others on their own. I can't imagine that people can't still do this. People still need good mechanics. In Florida, we are in desperate need of people to take care of old people. I'm sure there are many other jobs people can do on their own without working for a company or the government.

[momof2dfw]

I agree 3' over the line is reason for a ticket. As you noticed beforehand there are not many parking spaces around that area so by parking 3' over the line you took up two spots. Was the parking lot empty when you arrived? Or did you park between two other vehicles that all were also 3' over their lines? I hate it in places where parking is very limited as it is in that area and there are people that will take up more than one spot.

I also received a parking ticket in Lauderdale By The Sea the summer before last. It was because the meter ran out by a few minutes before we made it back to the car. Now that did kind of tick me off as it was only a few minutes and we did pay when we parked, we just got tied up in one place and did not make it back to the car. So that was kind of crappy to get a ticket for a few minutes. It was not a half hour or anything like that either, just a few minutes.

[tallrick]

Meters in South Florida routinely cheat you out of time. Who needs the hassle of feeding a meter when you can just go to the suburbs and get better prices with no parking headaches. I say boycott the cities and see how they feel about it. Many of these downtown "redevelopments" fail due to parking hassles. Why do you think people started flocking to the suburbs in the 50's?

[macguy]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Meters in South Florida routinely cheat you out of time. Who needs the hassle of feeding a meter when you can just go to the suburbs and get better prices with no parking headaches. I say boycott the cities and see how they feel about it. Many of these downtown "redevelopments" fail due to parking hassles. Why do you think people started flocking to the suburbs in the 50's?

There are many ways to look at it. I used to have a building on Hollywood boulevard and they had meters in front of my building. Myself an some others went before the city commission to see about getting them removed. They warned us about doing it but it was what we wanted so they took them out. Low and behold their warnings came true. In no time we had no parking at all for our customers.

You had to park and walk like three blocks to get to my building. People would park there to go to the beach. Office workers would park and tie up the spaces all day. It was awful, businesses were losing business due to the free parking. It was no more then two months before we were back there asking for the meters back. They gave us an "I told you so" and put them back. If you put free parking I a place like Lauderdale By the Sea. No business would have any place for the customers to park, period.

Tourists would park there all day and night. Beach goers would fill all the spaces. It would create an impossible situation for local business. You have to take a practical objective look before you go off on a tangent. In most cases you don't want more then 2 hour parking in that kind situation. People would park in front of your business permanently if you let them. Depending on people to do the right thing is an exercise in futility, they have to be told what to do in most cases. A $25.00 fine is needed maybe more for many of these a$$ holes.

[scampf]

Yes, the original poster deserved a ticket.

I went to a Resteraunt called Mulligans. They have a parking lot not far from there and it was easy to get a space. Unfortunately, I only had a nickel and a few pennies in change on me.

I inserted the nickel and rushed to the resteraunt to get more change. The nickel only bought a few minutes of time. Mulligans was very busy and by the time I made it back to the vehicle the parking enforcement lady was finishing up her ticket. I explained what happened.

Didn't matter. This is the scummiest town I have ever had the displeasure of visiting. As we ate our late dinner at Mulligans I watched this parking enforcement person trolling until 10:00 pm when we left. There was ample parking everywhere so It's obvious that they thrive on these tickets.

What's more is that each meter has a two hour limit. That's not to make you move your car or discourage you from staying to long to free up space for another. Thats so they have more chances to write you another 25 dollar ticket. It's a disgusting policy that fleeces people like this.

I am not a tourist. I have lived in south Florida for 12 years. Take my advice, there is absolutely nothing in Lauderdale By The Sea thats worth a $25 ticket. Go up the road a few miles and enjoy a real tourist friendly area.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by scampf

Yes, the original poster deserved a ticket.

I went to a Resteraunt called Mulligans. They have a parking lot not far from there and it was easy to get a space. Unfortunately, I only had a nickel and a few pennies in change on me.

I inserted the nickel and rushed to the resteraunt to get more change. The nickel only bought a few minutes of time. Mulligans was very busy and by the time I made it back to the vehicle the parking enforcement lady was finishing up her ticket. I explained what happened.

Didn't matter. This is the scummiest town I have ever had the displeasure of visiting. As we ate our late dinner at Mulligans I watched this parking enforcement person trolling until 10:00 pm when we left. There was ample parking everywhere so It's obvious that they thrive on these tickets.

What's more is that each meter has a two hour limit. That's not to make you move your car or discourage you from staying to long to free up space for another. Thats so they have more chances to write you another 25 dollar ticket. It's a disgusting policy that fleeces people like this.

I am not a tourist. I have lived in south Florida for 12 years. Take my advice, there is absolutely nothing in Lauderdale By The Sea thats worth a $25 ticket. Go up the road a few miles and enjoy a real tourist friendly area.

And where would that be?
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...ws-browardcomm