Street Parking Downtown Raleigh Injustice (Cary: houses, neighborhood, living in)

[ahnraleigh]

I work downtown and choose to park in the residential areas and hike a few blocks to my office. Obviously I'm not the only person who does this, so sometimes parking spots can become very competitive.

There is a spot in particular which is closest to my office where the same car is parked everyday. I've been parking in this area for roughly 1 year, and up until recently this car has been in this "Prime" spot everyday. About 2 weeks ago as I come around my usual corner to look for a spot, I notice the car which is always there is missing and the spot is open! I seize the opportunity and snatch it up.

At the end of the day I return to my car and to my surprise it has a ticket on it! The ticket claims that I'm less than 1 foot close to a driveway. Upon a quick observation, I'm clearly well over 1 foot. A co-worker of mine carries a tape measure for altering clothing and upon measuring and taking a picture, I'm clearly 21" from the driveway. I fill out the proper paperwork including my picture and submit an appeal form to Park Raleigh. After dealing with what appears to be a poorly managed company, I finally get a confirmation that they've received my paperwork and will contact me within 10 days to give me their 'verdict'.

The next day I notice that the normal car is parked back in the spot which I received a ticket. After parking and walking by it, I also notice that this car is closer to the driveway than I was. This is extremely noticeable. After leaving work and walking by it again, it's apparent that this car has not moved and in fact has no parking tickets on it. I'm starting to question whether the ticket cop has something out for me or my car?

15 days go by and I call them to see what the resolution is (Remember, they were supposed to get back to me within 10). They explain to me that my appeal has been denied because I was within 5 feet of a driveway. This blows my mind! Within 5 feet of a driveway? Every single driveway in the residential section of downtown Raleigh has a car parked within 5 feet of it. Why am I being singled out? Then it starts to click. Am I being paranoid to think that this person called a cop on my car to get ticketed for parking in his/her spot? The 5 foot rule is in fact listed on City of Raleigh's website here (http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_306_202_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Resident/Parking/Cat-1C-20081008-135155-Parking_Facts_and_Questi.html - broken link), but is there a more concrete spot where it can be confirmed that it is indeed illegal to park within 5 ft of a driveway? Am I to believe that cops will only ticket a car parked within 5 ft of a driveway if a complaint is issued?

Has anyone else had similar experiences or stories? Do I have any options? I feel like the current system in place is just begging to be abused.

[douknownam]

Maybe it's the meter maids car that's always parked there.

[GucciLittlePiggie]

go find a meter maid and tell them to ticket the car because you couldn't get into the driveway the way it's parked. maybe they'll stop parking there.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by ahnraleigh

I work downtown and choose to park in the residential areas and hike a few blocks to my office. Obviously I'm not the only person who does this, so sometimes parking spots can become very competitive.

There is a spot in particular which is closest to my office where the same car is parked everyday. I've been parking in this area for roughly 1 year, and up until recently this car has been in this "Prime" spot everyday. About 2 weeks ago as I come around my usual corner to look for a spot, I notice the car which is always there is missing and the spot is open! I seize the opportunity and snatch it up.

At the end of the day I return to my car and to my surprise it has a ticket on it! The ticket claims that I'm less than 1 foot close to a driveway. Upon a quick observation, I'm clearly well over 1 foot. A co-worker of mine carries a tape measure for altering clothing and upon measuring and taking a picture, I'm clearly 21" from the driveway. I fill out the proper paperwork including my picture and submit an appeal form to Park Raleigh. After dealing with what appears to be a poorly managed company, I finally get a confirmation that they've received my paperwork and will contact me within 10 days to give me their 'verdict'.

The next day I notice that the normal car is parked back in the spot which I received a ticket. After parking and walking by it, I also notice that this car is closer to the driveway than I was. This is extremely noticeable. After leaving work and walking by it again, it's apparent that this car has not moved and in fact has no parking tickets on it. I'm starting to question whether the ticket cop has something out for me or my car?

15 days go by and I call them to see what the resolution is (Remember, they were supposed to get back to me within 10). They explain to me that my appeal has been denied because I was within 5 feet of a driveway. This blows my mind! Within 5 feet of a driveway? Every single driveway in the residential section of downtown Raleigh has a car parked within 5 feet of it. Why am I being singled out? Then it starts to click. Am I being paranoid to think that this person called a cop on my car to get ticketed for parking in his/her spot? The 5 foot rule is in fact listed on City of Raleigh's website here (http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_306_202_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Resident/Parking/Cat-1C-20081008-135155-Parking_Facts_and_Questi.html - broken link), but is there a more concrete spot where it can be confirmed that it is indeed illegal to park within 5 ft of a driveway? Am I to believe that cops will only ticket a car parked within 5 ft of a driveway if a complaint is issued?

Has anyone else had similar experiences or stories? Do I have any options? I feel like the current system in place is just begging to be abused.

If it were me, it would drive me nuts knowing that I'm right. I'd take it to court with proof.

[Nelson919]

It seems like there's plenty of grounds here on which to have the ticket thrown out. Maybe contact the City of Raleigh Parking Administrator, say you feel Park Raleigh handled your appeal in error and explain your case to him.

Gordon Dash
Parking Administrator
Public Works Department
222 W. Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-996-3030

[ahnraleigh]

Originally Posted by Nelson919

It seems like there's plenty of grounds here on which to have the ticket thrown out. Maybe contact the City of Raleigh Parking Administrator, say that you feel that Park Raleigh handled your appeal in error and explain your case to him.

Gordon Dash
Parking Administrator
Public Works Department
222 W. Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-996-3030

Nelson,

Thanks for the contact info. I'll be writing an in depth email to him regarding my situation.

[Grawburg]

It sounds like you were ticketed for 1' close to a driveway NOT 5'. If your ticket says they got you for 1' then that's what you disputed than the 5' shouldn't apply because that's nt what the said you were in violation of.

If it's a company handling the ticketing I'd write them a note saying that you will not pay the ticket because you were not guilty of the charge on the ticket and tell them that have 30 days to respond or you will take it to small claims court.

Between their failure to respond in 10 days and you being innocent of the original charge, you should be able to get the ticket dropped and I'd sue for court costs and time spent as well.

GO GET EM!

[Charlton Dude]

Just another reason why I don't like cities. The hassle of parking, along with grid system layouts.

[al_roethlisberger]

Originally Posted by Charlton Dude

Just another reason why I don't like cities. The hassle of parking, along with grid system layouts.

It's better than the nonsensical "loops" of NW, NE, SW, SE Maynard, etc. in Cary

Put someone on an orthogonal grid system and they can find their way from point A to point B without a map, and can maximize land use. Perhaps that's why it has been the "standard" for all large cities for centuries now

All fun poking aside .... I can certainly recognize one's preference for wide open rolling countryside versus an urban core. To each their own.


Regarding the ticket, unfair or illegal(through inaccurate citations), you may also be dealing with local residents working to drive out commuter traffic and parking *shrug* It may be possible that the "locals" have a grudge against people parking all day in front of their houses and have started calling the police on every minor infraction just to irritate non-local parking into avoiding the area. The other car you've noticed may be a resident. Just a possibility.

We used to have a HUGE problem with non-local folks parking up and down our street back in San Jose prior to shows/games at The Arena, etc. It was so bad that residents couldn't park on their own street. Even after local parking decals were instituted, it was a big problem especially when many would park so close to the driveway that we couldn't get in or out. So the local PD were on many neighbors' speed dial. I know I certainly left my share of "dirty notes" under windshield wipers

I don't know much about the local neighborhood you are parking in, but after living in a downtown neighborhood for almost 10 years, I have to be honest that I am a big fan of local residential neighborhood parking decals/permits that limit/restrict commercial(commuter) parking to the business district.

Al

[senalj]

Is there anywhere else to park? I know you want to park for free (if you have to pay to park in your employers parking lot), but like Al said, it's very inconvenient for those who live downtown to have to deal with people parking on their street.