THE city’s DOWNTOWN meters have caused a stir among local residents since their installation in May – now city officials are discussing their options.
From now on, authorities are inclined to “ease restrictions”.
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In May, Caldwell, Idaho, made the decision to install digital parking meters downtown.
The discussion was so divided that the city council voted for and against them with a 50/50 split – it was the mayor who broke the tie by voting on the meters, wrote the Idaho Press.
“This is not a dictatorship and what happens in the city should not be based solely on the preferences of the mayor and council,” Councilwoman Diana Register said at the time.
Some business owners celebrated the meters, saying they prevented drivers from taking up seats and therefore maintained an even flow of customers in and out of the store.
Read more about parking meters
However, others say this diverted customers, particularly regulars, from visiting, as parking meters only allowed 15 free minutes before requiring $1 to park per hour.
“The welcoming comfort the public feels in downtown Caldwell is important,” said Marta Rostock, owner of Rostock Furniture.
“When people come into our store, we love to know how they’re doing. It’s the same with many of the businesses here.”
Marta Contreras is the manager of Carniceria Mi Tierra and says friendly traffic has drastically decreased due to paid parking.
“People used to come for lunch, eat tacos, shop,” she said.
“(Now), people are coming in and not eating in the store anymore. They’re getting food to go because people aren’t paying for the meters.”
Adding to the tension, employees and store owners were unfamiliar with the meters, making the situation even more frustrating for customers who were unable to navigate the meters.
“We were not educated on how to educate our customers,” she said.
Online, local residents say the parking meters are “incredibly difficult” to use, preventing them from parking at the meters.
Mayor Jarom Wagoner has been paying close attention to public opinion about the meters and called a meeting to revisit them.
We will never get 100% unanimous consent one way or another.
Mayor Jarom Waggoner
The public was invited for public comment during the meeting held earlier this week.
Once again, opinions were mixed.
“We will never get 100% unanimous consent one way or another,” Wagoner said.
During the meeting, councilors proposed that opening hours be changed to 9am to 5pm, instead of 9am to 7pm.
They also suggested that parking be mandatory only during the week, leaving weekends free.
How to Fight a Parking Ticket
You can avoid being fined by following all published laws and regulations, but sometimes mistakes are made
Like any form of citation, parking tickets can be avoided by reading and obeying posted signage. However, when visiting a new city, or state, or in a hurry, things can be missed and mistakes can be made.
Suddenly there’s a ticket you weren’t prepared to pay for. If the ticket comes as a surprise to you, there are some things you can do to help your case when appealing a parking ticket.
- Read the ticket carefully. Look for errors such as incorrect street names, license plate numbers, vehicle make and model, time and date, etc. Errors would render the ticket invalid.
- Take pictures. The vehicle in the space, lack of signage, or other vehicles that were not cited for performing the same parking service. If the ticket involves parking too close to something like a fire hydrant, a photo showing a reasonable distance would help your case. Make sure metadata with time and date is accessible. Signs that are obstructed by trees, or on crooked posts, or that are not “obvious” are also great things to photograph.
- Make sure the statute that was violated is listed on the ticket. If it is not listed, the ticket is not valid.
- Immediately follow the appeal instructions on the ticket. All legitimate tickets will have appeal instructions. Waiting until the last moment weakens your argument and can result in late fees.
- When in court, avoid these phrases as they reduce your credibility and weaken your argument:
- “I didn’t know the law.”
- “I was going to move my car.”
- “I can’t pay this ticket.”
- “I’ve been doing this for years.”
- “I checked with the parking officer, who said everything was fine.”
- Contact a lawyer. If you are facing obstacles and feel stuck, you may want to contact a traffic lawyer in your area. Many have free case consultations.
Source: Reader Summary
Originally, the city charged for parking on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
They also proposed leaving the first 30 minutes free instead of the first 15 minutes.
For now, the decision remains up in the air, with another meeting to discuss the changes scheduled for August 5th.
Until then, the same rules apply.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
