PRESS RELEASE - RESIDENTIAL PARKING UPDATES - JULY 22, 2007
Bob Harkum
Chair, Residential Permit Parking Advisory Board
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Major changes in technology, enforcement policy, and the Residential Permit Parking law itself will come together this fall and begin to make abuse, or misuse, of the Residential Permit Parking Program very difficult, and very costly for those who get caught.
Article 31, Section 10 now has a specific section, Part VII, defining Prohibited Conduct, followed by VIII: Enforcement; Penalties.
No longer can users remain unaware or ignore what can and cannot be done with a permit. No longer is the punishment a slap on the wrist and a "catch me if you can."
Ignore a warning letter and walk out to find your, or a friend's, vehicle booted and your, and your entire household's, RPP privileges revoked for a year.
And a boot is the least and cheapest of penalties. The booted user, who has ignored a mailing telling him to stop the questionable use and another mailing telling him to surrender the permit, must, in order to get the boot removed, surrender the illegally or improperly used permit at the Parking Authority office.
They then issue a receipt for the returned permit. With that receipt in hand, the booted car owner can then proceed to Parking Fines, pay just the booting fee, and have the boot removed. (assuming no other outstanding violations). But, this could be just a beginning for some RPP Program offenders.
Certain violations also carry a Civil Citation for $500.
For the more enterprising at getting around the rules and regulations, or dispersing illegal or illegally copied permits, there could be additional criminal penalties with misdemeanor charges, fine of $1,000, and possible imprisonment.
City Council, when made aware of the fact that, in the past, there was very little the Parking Authority could do to enforce the Rules and Regulations of the Program, corrected that problem with a major revision of the entire Permit Parking Ordinance. The fines and penalties added are, at minimum, those of many RPP programs around the Country. The Mayor signed the Bill into Law in January.
This summer Enforcement will add LPR (License Plate Recognition) now in use in two of their booting vehicles to several other Parking Control Agents' vehicles. An LPR equipped vehicle can read a vehicle's license tag while cruising at 30 mph, mark and track the parking time via GPS, and check the tag against a download of tags with outstanding violations.
An LPR's computer can also be flagged for the tags of vehicles that need to be booted if they have been reported for improperly displaying voided, invalid, or expired Residential Permit Parking Program's permits.
Once a goal of adding Passive RFID, [bar code] onto the RPP permits themselves is realized, finding voided and invalid permits can be even more efficient.
The Parking Authority, which manages the City's Residential Permit Parking Program (RPP), now has established a warning/enforcement process to warn users about questionable use of an RPP permit issued in their name. A response is required from the user, allowing for a hearing if requested, within 14 days, or the permits and decals issued to him will be voided and recalled.
In fact, the revised law allows the Parking Authority to exclude the entire RPP address from the Program for abuse of the Program from one member of the residence, with the voiding and recall of all permits from that address, and the booting of any vehicle displaying those voided permits. The goal is to stop the abuses of the Program to which some users believe they are entitled.
Like motor vehicle license tags, the RPP permit allows its user certain privileges, but it is not the users' to convey, sell, rent, lease, exchange. RPP permits are not the users' at all. They are, and remain, property of the Parking Authority and are subject to recall. And they are only valid while the user is a resident in the area. Move, and the permits are void. Immediately. The request for permits from a new resident/tenant voids all permits currently out to that address.
This has always been the case, but many users never bothered to read the terms and conditions of use they have signed onto. But now the Parking Authority and the Program have a mechanism to force the return of a voided permit if it remains in use (if you move within an area you still need to see the Parking Authority immediately-- the permits are specific to the address).
And added into the RPP Ordinance is a Civil Citation of $500 for the misuse and abuse of the Program and/or the decals and permits that incurred the recall. So think twice now before saving $5 to park by using that old permit to park in the old neighborhood for an O's game. Park with that old decal or Visitor's Permit, and you could return to one if not two $500 Civil Citation violations and a boot.
As license tags are specific to the vehicle per its VIN, so are RPP decals, with the vehicle's first and last tag number/letter punched into the decal. Use it on a different vehicle and it is immediately void; the vehicle displaying this void decal can be immediately booted. Change vehicles and you have to return it to PA for a new decal (but unlike MVA, there is no charge). Duplicating and/or selling duplicates can result in criminal charges and jail time.
Temporary and other like permits are very specific regarding their use and conditions of use. Now, any other use is an immediate violation. Changing or altering in any way will have you removed from Program and issued a Civil Citation for $500. The user does NOT have the authority or right to alter or change the permit in any way. Period.
Visitors Permits, which are the greatest convenience to the users of Baltimore's Program, and also the biggest generator of abuse and misuse, will be far more closely monitored and watched. The Visitors Permits are only for visitors to a RPP address/resident and cannot be used solely to attend adjacent attractions, work, or school. Enforcement officers, if they observe a driver pull up, place a Visitor's Permit in the windshield, and walk off away from area to some attraction close by can punch up an immediate Civil Citation, call for a boot, and notify the Parking Authority of the abuse.
Enforcement can now, per revised Ordinance, also write an immediate Civil Citation for a copied, fake, voided, or altered permit and call for a boot to require the surrender of the fake.
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WHAT [RPP PERMIT/PASS] USERS MUST DO:
Remove all expired decals from their vehicles. Never display a voided permit even with a valid permit (eg: voided decal and valid Visitors' Permit in windshield = ticket for the voided permit)
Have the current year's decal attached to the lower left hand side front windshield of the vehicle to which it was issued (the first and last number/letter of the license tag are punched in the decal) by its own adhesive. If it is not attached, it is void. Scotch taped, void. Sitting there, void. Wrong car, void. This is immediate void. No 14 day letter. The decal can only be used for the vehicle and tags to which it was issued, attached per its own adhesive. Period.
Use visitors permits for persons only coming to their residence to see them. If they are visiting to go with you to a ballgame or the Science Center or local restaurant, just be certain they visit first and are not in possession of the permit, or get the permit, find parking, then come to your house. If your brother in law wants to just park for a Ravens game, two responses: "Sorry, I can now get thrown out of the Program for that." or be honest: "What Parking [pass]??!!!??"
Be certain to always have any permit displayed by you or friend completely showing in the lower left hand corner of the front windshield. There should be nothing covering any part of it. It may NOT be laminated. It may not be altered in any way. It doesn't count if it is on the front seat, on the consol, in the sun visor. The PCA's [enforcement officers] do not search around the car looking for a maybe here. They are not mind readers from afar. If it isn't completely visible, unobstructed,in the LLF [lower left front] windshield, it isn't displayed. Period.
Observe all other traffic and parking regulations in area. This includes the Citys abandoned vehicle provision. A car parked in one spot more than 48 hours can be ticketed. In RPP areas, PCAs [enforcement officers]have generally given RPP residents a few more days, but a car should not be parked on a City street unattended at all. Film crew, street work, other work, etc. can have tow away signs posted within 24 hours. So if you are away, someone should have keys, just in case.
No vehicle should be parked long term at all (more than a week) in one spot (it is illegal after 48 hours and LPR scans will soon note that to the PCAs).
Email or call your Community Rep or Parking Authority if you observe abuse of the Program.
AREA 30 REP
Cynthia Griffin
410-446-5686
area30parking@gmail.com
Keep track of your permits. Lost permits will not be replaced. Stolen permit must be reported at once to PA and the police. You may, and it is a good idea to, write your address on the BACK of the visitor's permit. If in a household with issues re: use, put your name and address on the back.
AND:
NEVER allow anyone to claim residency at your address who isn't a resident. Your entire household can now be excluded from the Program for this, and, depending on the scope of the fraud, criminal charges are possible. Note too that the revised RPP law allows the Program and the Parking Authoprity to limit a RPP residence to only 4 permits without a good cause shown [as to why more are in legitimate need].
NEVER give your visitor permit for someone to go to work in the area, or just to go to an event in the area, to school, to the stadium, ballpark, etc. If PCA [enforcement agents] or Community Reps see or track the Visitor's Permit being abused, you will no longer have a valid one.
NEVER allow your permit to br copied, or given to anyone long term who is not staying at your residence. If you suspect a copy exists, contact the Parking Authority immediately. Bring it in. A new permit will be issued to you gratis, the old one voided. The copying of permits/passes is now very illegal.
NEVER ignore communications re: your permits from the Parking Authority. It is their business how their permits are being used B within reason. A letter of inquiry is just that. Reply to it. They do not care that you have company 5 nights a week, just that that heavy usage is NOT abuse. A reply is needed from you to say that. That's all.
NEVER give over control of permit to landlord. Obviously, as a visitor to see or fix something, he will use your pass. But there are fines and charges specifically associated with a landlord asking for and keeping RPP Permits. HOWEVER, some landlords, to help the Community Assn keep parking available in their neighborhoods, will require the Visitors Permits as part of releasing the security deposit. In those situations, the resident should write "Void" across the permits with a heavy marker and cut them in half. This assures the correctness of this exchange of (voided) permits to the law.
NEVER exchange money for a permit. It is not yours. If caught there are now big fines and your entire household can be excluded from the RPP Program.
NEVER diminish any usable (post 1971 for the most part) off-street parking spaces by converting to family room, storage, workshop, etc. Per new law, RPP Program must require that you use off-street parking if you have it, for you or your guest. In some areas this is required. In others it may be or may eventually be, or it is in effect for new development per revised law
Don't use Visitors Permit in lieu of purchasing a decal.
Technically you are a real resident and yes have a right to park.
But getting a decal makes tracking illegal use of Visitor's Permit easier for Enforcement.
Enforcement agents do not automatically check vehicle/owner/residence information before writing a ticket. If you forget to use a temp or visitor's permit, they just do not know your car lives in the house next door. They see hundreds of car per day and cannot be expected to remember what car belongs to what address/permit..
by: Bob Harkum
Chair, Residential Permit Parking Advisory Board
