Mount Pleasant DC Forum

bdweller · Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 118

This emergency parking crap is getting out of hand...
On Thurs/Fri last week there were emergency parking signs all over the 1700 block of Lamont (b/w 17th and 18th) saying no parking Sat July 9th from 7am to 7pm. Not only were there signs in their normal places (taped to trees), each car parked on Lamont had flyers put on their windsheilds saying "YOU WILL BE TOWED. CRANE WILL BE PARKED HERE" But then Saturday morning all the signs were gone and of course, no crane. And again today there are emergency parking signs all over Lamont. It seems as if people are putting these signs up to ensure parking for themselves.
What's going on?

kericain · Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 23

I've also had problems with the emergency no parking signs. I don't drive my car that frequently so it may sit for days or weeks in the same space. I check on it every other day to make sure there are none of the evil signs or that nothing has happened to it. I thought this was a great plan since I understood that the city was required to post those signs for 72 hours before the no parking went into effect.

This apparently is not the case however as in June I got a ticket on one of the days I did not check on my car for violating the emergency no parking zone, though there was no sign posted the day before.

Does anyone know what the actual rules are for this? It's unrealistic to expect people to check every morning, especially when I live on Mount Pleasant and can't always park right in front of my house.

jack · Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 4400 Location: 19th & Lamont

bdweller · Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 118

yet again the thread takes a wrong turn...

I don't want to turn this into a thread about the rights of residents to own seldomly used cars. I DO want to know why the emergency parking system is being abused consistently and no one does anything about it.

josh · Joined: 20 Oct 2004 Posts: 58

Last week I went to the much-vaunted "permit center," where it seems that whether you're seeking a permit to construct loft condos or obtain emergency no parking signs you wait in the same line. The staff there, and the permit itself which you have to post, state that the signs must be posted 72 hours in advance. So, regardless of the council's actions/inactions, at least people are being told the right thing.

And Jack, if you could post a chart of how much car usage per month per individual/family constitutes a justifiable use of public parking space on your considerate/inconsiderate scale, that would be most helpful for all.

jack · Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 4400 Location: 19th & Lamont

PRN · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 114

Before chastising a DC resident that lives in the neighborhood for parking their car - where they live - even if it is not used often - how about a little focus on the plethora of MD and VA tagged cars parked overnight in Mt. Pleasant on a consistent basis. Permits aside - surely tax paying DC residents should not feel bad about parking one car curbside in their own neighborhood.

jack · Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 4400 Location: 19th & Lamont

PRN · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 114

I think it is pretty difficult to make a judgement based solely on frequency of use as to whether a person "needs" a car. It is clearly difficult to park on the street at night but again - and I wont even venture a guess as to the total percentage - but my observation of cars parked in the neighborhood overnight is that a large number are tagged from MD and VA. Granted, some of those folks may have just moved to DC - but in that case they should get DC tags. I think attention should be paid to non-residents taking up street parking before worrying about a bona-fide neighbor that may not use their car often.

Has anyone ever given thought to some sort of overnight RPP? Perhaps this would open up some space - or the city could even sell permits to folks from VA and MD that need to park here overnight (or as Jack has often noted - household help, contractors etc during the day).

Like Jack, I have parking, in fact we take four cars off the street - including one seldom used that belongs to a neighbor. That is unless someone blocks our driveway - which happens surprisingly often. It is interesting, I think, that of the 20 odd cars we have had to get towed over the last 2 years or so - I can only recall one from DC.

jack · Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 4400 Location: 19th & Lamont

brett · Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 214 Location: MtP

PRN · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 114

Obviously there is not enough parking. The limited parking that is available should go first to DC residents - or folks legally licensed in other states that work in DC (i.e. people for Congress). I made no comment about far out of state licenses - I assume most of them frequently parked in Mt Pleasant fall into the above listed exceptional category. I have no sympathy for anyone that lives here and simply chooses not to register in DC for whatever reason. I stand by my position - DC residents with DC plates (taking into account the above mentioned exception) should have first priority to park curbside.

denisew · Joined: 25 Mar 2005 Posts: 162

The signs on Lamont were removed by DDOT. The poster, Nancy Schemrai posted them on part of the block then moved the signs down when they realized they were in the wrong place.

They reposted them still wrong, not using official signs. Please note, DDOt does not issue orange signs and the signs (except tree ones) should have a contact number and the permit or work to be performed.

While the legislation may have changed, it is still a permit condition that signs be up 72 hours in advance.

Denise

DW · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

I recently received a ticket in the same situation - signs banning park on Adams Mill were up and down for about a month. I didn't check on my car for a day and I had a $50 ticket for violating the emergency no parking signs. They had been posted the day before - and most of them were laying on the ground due to a big rain storm. I contested the ticket by mail adjudication and was successful - so I'd suggest you do this!

Yeah, brand new to the forum (after living in the neigbhorhood for about ten years) but I gotta say: I park my car in the same spot all week long and use it only for my bigger shopping trips, out of town trips on the weekends, etc. Some may say you're taking someone else's parking spot - but I prefer one less car on the road on a daily basis. So thanks for not driving every day!