Chronic downtown parking violators still a problem that no one is doing anything about

Issuing parking tickets in downtown Northfield Issuing parking tickets in downtown Northfield 
A community service officer intern for the Northfield Police Department was issuing parking tickets this afternoon along Division St.  He said he written up over a dozen in a couple of blocks.  

In May of 2011, I blogged: Do we need a downtown parking hall of shame?

No real progress since then, evidently. But it makes me glad that the City Council hasn’t approved the Streetscape Task Force’s request to spend $700,000 for another parking lot.  The NDDC, the Chamber, and the Streetscape Task Force need to tackle the problem of chronic downtown parking violators first.

5 Comments

  1. I’m confused. Wouldn’t more available parking spaces be a pretty good way to reduce the temptation to park incorrectly?

    July 23, 2012
  2. Griff Wigley said:

    Peter, I suppose that’s a possibility but for the chronic violators, I’d doubt it. The new parking lot would be a block or more away so it’s more likely that they’d continue to search for an available spot on Division first.

    Plus, asking taxpayers to fund a $750,000 irreversible decision on a parking lot without first pursuing other alternatives doesn’t seem wise to me.

    July 23, 2012
  3. Mary Closner said:

    As a recent offender, I feel that the $10 fine is quite fair. I get lazy when it’s hot and move my car less often. I am also constantly loading and unloading my car with recycling/trash/custom orders to be mailed/repairs that are leaving the store/window displays, etc. It’s more a matter of logistics when I forget to move my car.

    I shall report to Bridge Square for the public stoning when I am called!

    July 23, 2012
  4. Griff Wigley said:

    Mary, I can see how you feel a $10 fine is fair. But if you multiply your rationale many times over by other downtown store owners/employees who likely have similar rationales, it’s a big problem that not-so-indirectly contributes to the push for a $750,000 taxpayer solution. How is that fair?

    July 26, 2012
  5. Robert Palmquist said:

    At college we had a parking fine that increased with each offense, so in this case Northfield could do $10 for the first offense, $20 for the second, $30 for the third and so forth.

    July 27, 2012

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