Curbside signs point to a parking ticket - or not
No one likes to find a bright orange parking ticket flapping on the car windshield. But tipster Diane Kolifrath said it's especially aggravating when drivers are ticketed for crimes they did not commit.
Kolifrath tells GlobeWatch she and her family drove from their New Hampshire home to the Faneuil Hall area a few days before New Year's Eve to attend a birthday party at a restaurant. After spotting what appeared to be a legal parking space on Clinton Street, Kolifrath said she checked street signs to see whether it was safe to park and then pulled her sport-utility vehicle into the space. Only a temporary sign posted prohibiting parking there two days later was visible, she says.
"I was in Boston on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007, and I received a bogus $75 parking ticket for parking in front of a sign clearly stating 'No Parking Anytime Monday.' There were cars lining both sides of the street, so I didn't give parking a second thought, since it was Saturday!
"I appealed the ticket via mail but my appeal was rejected [without explanation] despite providing clearly readable photos of the sign and a contract with Saturday's date on it and the address where the ticket was issued. I truly believe this rejection was because the parking court doesn't expect us 'out-of-towners' to show up in person to pursue our disputes."
Kolifrath said she was so incensed, she appealed the citation in person at City Hall on March 21. Despite her efforts and the photograph, Kolifrath said the hearing officer denied her appeal.
"He implied I should have known" that parking was prohibited there year-round, she said. Between travel and time off from work, "I estimate my cost to fight this bogus ticket at almost $300!"
Kolifrath said she plans to take her appeal to Suffolk District Court.
"I know that parking in Boston - as in any big city - is always a hot issue, but with there being so many opportunities for the city to ticket legitimately, I really think that this . . . is blatantly outrageous!"
The city responds
Each year, the city imposes parking restrictions across Boston as part of the First Night celebration, said Tracey Ganiatsos, a spokeswoman for the city's Transportation Department. "As part of this year's plan, parking was restricted on Clinton Street from Monday, Dec. 31, 2007, through Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008, at which time the permanent regulations would kick back in," Ganiatsos said. "The temporary regulations, posted between 24 and 48 hours prior to going into effect, are printed on cardboard signs and tied onto meters and poles. If a pole with a permanent parking regulation is at the location, the cardboard sign is tied under the permanent regulation so that the driver can see both regulations." The hearing officer denied Kolifrath's appeal because one of her photos showed a permanent "No Parking" sign in the background, a short distance away, she said.
Though nearly two-thirds of the appealed tickets were thrown out last year, Ganiatsos said it's not a sign they're being given out improperly.
"The reason why we dismiss so many tickets at hearings is not necessarily because they were written wrong and the number of dismissed tickets is in no way a reflection on the parking enforcement officers who issued them," she said. Rather, hearing officers - most of whom are law school students working on a contract basis for the city - give drivers "the benefit of the doubt. Once the hearing officer's decision is made, the only recourse is to appeal the decision at a court hearing."
WHO'S IN CHARGE
Thomas J. Tinlin, commissioner
of the Boston Transportation Department
1 City Hall Square, Room 721
Boston, MA 02201-2026
617-635-4BTD (4283)
