To Curb or Not to Curb: The Debate Surrounding Winter Parking
As we enter the month of April, many look forward to sunny days on a more consistent basis. People begin to wear shorts over pants, they have more energy and some are even entering new chapters of our lives. Others, however, are looking forward to the end of another winter season, which included more problems than simple colds or unpleasant weather. Parking tickets have begun to cause a conversation amongst the citizens of Poughkeepsie about the rules of parking.
Town Ordinance 195–30a was a law passed by the town of Poughkeepsie to prohibit any vehicle from being parked on any street, road or highway in the area between the hours of 12am-8am for a six-month span of November 1 to April 1. The law was revised in 2012 to add public parking lots maintained by Poughkeepsie.
The goal of the law is to ensure that plowers will have an easier time cleaning the snow off the streets by morning, so people can drive to work without much trouble. Anyone who refuses to comply with this law can face up to $500 in fines. Additionally, if your vehicle is ticketed six times, the police are required to tow your vehicle. There are few exceptions, mainly if the vehicle in question happens to be an emergency vehicle such as an ambulance or a car parked by a physician or surgeon.
While the law has succeeded in reducing the amount of obstacles in plowing the town of Poughkeepsie, some believe that the penalties are simply too high, such as resident and college student Nick Diglio, who received three tickets this winter and plans to appeal them. He believes that the ticket fees are so high, “because Poughkeepsie itself is facing a lot of financial issues, including debts that haven’t been repaid, and they see this as easy revenue for ticketing college students who are not aware of the ordinance.”
Another local resident, who chose to remain anonymous, is currently appealing two of his five tickets from parking on the curb over the past four months. He said, “I’ve only lived here for ten minutes and not one person had made it aware to me that this law was in place, so why should I have to find out through a police officer, who assumes that I have lived here my entire life?”
Living on Fairview Avenue, I walk down the street and see parked cars on the curb all the time. Not because people are too lazy to park in their driveways, but rather because their driveways are just not big enough for more than two cars. Fairview is a street that tends to house many college students because rent tends to be cheap compared to living on campus. Landlords don’t tend to renovate their property, which includes adding to driveways. However, some landlords have expanded their driveways anyway to avoid trouble for their tenants. For example, houses on West Cedar Street and Hawkins Street have driveways that expand around the back of the house, allowing more than six cars to park at a time.
The Zoning and Police Departments of Poughkeepsie refused to comment. The Town Board for a statement was unable to be reached for a statement. Perhaps those in charge of the law are not taking it as seriously as those who are affected by it?
To those of you scrambling to move your cars, you can relax. It is April 2, after all, so Town Ordinance 195–30a becomes irrelevant until this upcoming November, when the cycle of tickets can continue.
