Parking grace periods need to be observed
They seem to be lenient in South Beach these days with overdue parking meters. On weekends, you can't get a table at any restaurant on Ocean Drive or Lincoln Road they are packed with people. The City of Miami Beach knows this and they would rather have happy customers than upset people with parking tickets who will not return. So as a result, the restaurants and stores do a bang up business.
A friend's meter was expired for almost two hours on Ocean Drive last Saturday, yet her car was not ticketed.
In the Grove, people have seen parking attendants counting the minutes until tickets expire, the Parking Authority ticket writers have literally been seen standing over cars looking at their watches, counting the minutes. This was the scene Sunday at 6:30 pm, wonder how many of the ticketed people will return to Monty's next week.
Do they know there is a grace period? Do they know they are getting out of hand now?
The City of Miami just hired many new employees while other cities are suffering and Miami has a hiring freeze. Coincidence? I wonder. Even Commissioner Marc Sarnoff is quoted as saying, "It goes against common sense." He means the hirings, not the parking authority overzealous ticket writers. We mean both, the ticket jockeys and the hirings.
posted by Tom Falco at 10:00 AM
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16 Comments:
Tippity tip of the ice berg.
Welcome to the stimulus program 2009! More UNIONIZED government workers at all levels to figure out ways to tax the producers of society so government workers can keep their jobs.
This is nothing more than a train wreck waiting to happen. How is that Hope and Change working out for all of you?
The city manager's office, solid waste, and planning and zoning departments have all added staff at a time when city administrators have been warning of pending department cuts on a level not seen in a decade.
Hmmm. doesn't sound like any of those positions have anything at all to do with parking.
I'd also hazard a guess that none of those positions were the beneficiary of federal stimulus dollars. But if they were, wouldn't good paying, secure local jobs help STIMULATE our local economy, Anonymous?
This same thing happens in the Gables. I have'nt shopped there in years.If you are luck to find a space, you have a ticket waiting when you return. I'm positive their meters are calibrated to expire less than the time left on the meter. City parking authorities are really harming business owners
RE: GRACE PERIOD - Per Miami Parking Authority 305-373-6789 x 1 then ask for supervisor. All P&D (park and display machines - machines with paper receipts)Operated by the MPA come with 10 min grace period.This means IF YOU ARE get a ticket for parking 1- 10 min over time, you can call the MPA and by fax, email, snail mail you can have the ticket canceled. This also applies to making parking P&D payment by cell phone. NOT all P & D machines are operated by MPA - look for sign on them .Some cities Miami Beach operate their own. AND YES - the ticket writers should know about the grace period. But that is for one of you reading and complaining and blogging to follow up with the MPA - I got the FACTS - deal with it !
Miami Beach also had a learning curve. As a single woman in the 90's on Miami Beach it was hard getting a 2nd date, invariably the cars had tickets when the evening came to an end. So it goes. The Grove will also come to a sane conclusion when the traffic (dates:)) to visit the merchants and restaurants of the Grove seem not so attractive. to JKH have you ever followed through and succeeded?
Nope - Never tried. Never got a ticket for 1- 10 min overtime. But it does not matter if I tried. These are the facts -I verified it . You all will of course verify if my facts are correct. Then use the facts to either get out of paying a wrong ticket - or to get the MPA to retrain their employees about the 10 min grace period . OR - just blog and complain to the converted here about it instead if you get a ticket. Up to you all!
JKH - have you always been an a*****e or is this more of a recent development? Does someone need a hug? If that doesn't work, how about a kick in the pants? open offer.
I agree with jkh, though his delivery couldve been better. If you put an hour's worth of money in a meter, you need to leave within an hour. If the cost is $1.00 for that hour, then you have paid to use that space for one hour, not an hour and 10 minutes, not an hour and a half. Of course, if there is some grace period rule, then it should be adhered to. Rules are rules. You are aware of them from the moment you make the decision to park and pay. You break em, you pay. On South Beach, you might get away with it because the meter maids are probably just lazy or have too much ground to cover or both.
The Tow Truck business in Miami Beach is where all the $$$ is. Forget the meters, they just tow you away. I saw a car with a Handicap plate on the rear end of tow truck last week.
12:04 I have never heard of anybody paying court costs if they win their case. Did it really happen to you or is it that you are trying to make a case of the always evil -THEY - that are trying to control our lives ?
I have never heard more whiners than on this site. Times are tough and municipalities must collect cash when they are entitled to do so. If you don't want a ticket then pay up.
anon at 8:52 - Agreed !! It is called accountability for ones own actions. As the previous person said - people always blame the "they".
I understand penalizing people for staying beyond what they've paid for. What gets me though, is the amount of the fine. 18 Bucks! That would get me another 18 hours of parking.
So because I ran late or didn't have an extra dollar, I get an 18 dollar penalty. That seems excessive to me. If I had continued paying or another car had parked there for the extra 20 minutes, the parking authority would have only 'earned' 50 cents or so.
I know you want people to abide by the rules, but shouldn't the penalty be somewhat proportional to the violation?
Obviously the amount has to be high enough so that people don't want to have to pay the ticket but 18 dollars just pisses me off.
to anon at 4:36 pm - please read anon at 8:52 am. And by the way - you would be getting the same $18 ticket if you were 10 hrs overtime. Next time you should get a better "proportional" return on your investment.
On Saturday, at was at the Grove for Suenalo Block Party, I ate at George's ($85.00 me and a friend), shopped at VS ($65.00), Bath and Body ($45.00). When I got to my car, I had a ticket, and I was only 10 minutes expired... BTW, Gilbert Cabrera's daughter Greta Cabrera, who just got hired by the city as an adm ass't with a salary of $36,000+ is about 21 or 22 years old, and I know for a fact (since I personally know him) that he helped her get the job!
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