Residents in Capitol Hill have been receiving a plethora of parking tickets with steep fines and consequences including towing and booting for quite some time now.
It doesn’t appear to be improving any time soon. In fact, fines are rising. Every city has parking rules and enforcement but this is truly exceptional. It’s simply a result of poor city planning, high population density, very few parking spots, difficult to see and read signs, bureaucracy and disproportionate fines and punishments.
Boots, fines, small incomes and the Parking Magistrate’s revenue
Never have I received so many parking tickets in my life. In two and a half months I personally managed to break just about every parking violation possible (four in total) and rack up $525 worth of fines.
Unfortunately in each case I either didn’t see a sign at all or I didn’t read the fine print. Yes, learning the hard way is among my fortes. It turns out I’m not alone. My neighbor for one owes $800.
How many others are out there? How much money is the Parking “Magistrate” receiving per month? My guess is an astronomical amount. Keep in mind according to the average income per household in Capitol Hill is only $35,424. There are at least two boots in every 5-block radius. How many people have driven around for over ten minutes testing their parallel parking skills only to find a ticket on their car the next day or better yet to find their car missing because it’s been towed? This is a serious issue which needs to be addressed.
Poor City Planning
According to , there are 13,899 people per square mile in Capitol Hill the majority of whom are renters living in buildings, which were built before 1939. Most do not have parking lots. Obviously cars were not as popular at this time but they were certainly on the rise. It’s a shame the city didn’t plan better to accommodate for their expansions.
Unfortunately many people depend on cars for work. If you work close by obviously you should consider riding a bike or walking. However if your line of work requires a vehicle and your building doesn’t offer parking then you will need to deal with this stress or rent a parking space often several blocks away.
Street Rules the hard way
The Denver Parking “Magistrate” has an extensive list of violations in Capitol Hill which can be tricky if you don’t do your research. They currently charge $50 for parking on the wrong street on the wrong day at the wrong time for street sweeping as opposed to the previous $25 they charged last season.
Residents must not only travel down streets looking for a place to park but also scour for signs. If it’s dark you may need to walk straight up to signs and read the fine print to determine this or memorize all of the rules posted on their website. You can sign up for e-reminders.
Also, sign up for a free residency permit, which allows you to park in the two-hour only zones for more than two hours. Being new to the area I was ignorant about all of this and in bliss just to find a space. One weekend I parked on Logan St. which seemed fine until I couldn’t find my car on Monday morning.
There was one little sign that indicated this side became a tow away zone on Mondays through Fridays during work hours starting at 6 a.m. (This early hour is another important note as I’ll explain later.)
Anyway, imagine my surprise after walking several blocks thinking I lost my car only to find out it was towed. After walking another seven blocks to retrieve my car there was no ticket on it. As preposterous as it may sound, I assumed they felt towing my car was enough punishment.
A month later a friend at my previous residence called and said the mail arrived and that I owed Denver $200, which by then included a $50 late fee. A few weeks after the towing fiasco, I parked on Logan again planning to move my car bright and early the next morning. When I went to move my car at 6:30am it had already been towed. My memory served me incorrectly thinking the tow zone started at 7a.m.!
It was an honest mistake which cost another $150. After all of these incidents I’m somewhat confident I now know how to avoid further tickets. Also, remember you have 20 not 30 days to pay your ticket contrary to the standard in most other states. Failure to do so means your fine could double.
The Magistrate Headquarters Experience
When I visited the Parking “Magistrate” to try to work out my tickets and explain what happened I took a number and was seated. However there were no other “customers” there. Meanwhile two ladies sat behind the counter without acknowledging me. One was eating, and one was doing her nails. After about ten minutes of biting my tongue I was called by an officer to come down a long hallway where there were several “hearing rooms.”
After explaining my story to one of the hearing “officers” he offered to take $100 off of my fines but only if I paid everything in its entirety that day $425. When I said I couldn’t do this he told me to call someone and borrow it then.
Afterwards I went and paid 2 of my 4 tickets. As you may know 3 outstanding tickets which are 90 days past due can get you booted with yet another $100 removal fee on top of all of your tickets and late fees. This is why I only left two outstanding. Keep in mind the average income in Capitol Hill is only $35,424 which means many can’t afford to pay $400 and up at one time. As for a payment plan, the “officer” said there was no such thing.
Solutions and Suggestions
So what can be done about this?
One: All properties and managers should be supplied with a list of all of the parking rules or at least the city parking website address . This would warn new residents of the stringent parking stipulations before it’s too late.
Two: Parking enforcement workers must carry data about which cars have and have not been ticketed for which violations so that they can issue warnings before slapping people with $150 in fines. A second violation would then constitute a ticket.
Three: The city needs to lower their fines due to the economic hardships people are suffering. Surely they can afford to do so by now. A street sweeping ticket for example should go back down to $25 at the most.
Four: The city could work out a reasonable payment plan with people. Fifty dollars a month should more than suffice.
Five: There should be a reasonable cap on late fees. My proposal is $20 at the most.
Six: The city needs to post larger signs and more of them so they cannot be over-looked easily.
Tracee Campbell lives in Denver. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
