|
|
||
Stealing cleared parking spots is not the neighborly thing to do Date published: 2/10/2010
BY EMILY BATTLE
Luke Payne worked up a sweat in jeans and a T-shirt yesterday afternoon digging his car out of packed-in snow on Amelia Street in Fredericksburg so that he could go to work at 5 p.m. Payne was well aware that he could return from his job only to find that another motorist had claimed the product of his hard labor. "I guess I'll probably lose the spot, but I'm getting some exercise, and I'm out in the fresh air, so it's not so bad," Payne said. Other city residents weren't so willing to let their hard-dug spots go to somebody else. Along many streets in Fredericksburg's older neighborhoods, orange cones, flags, flower pots, yard furniture and other objects were being used to stake claim to valuable bare pavement. Many downtown homes have no off-street parking, and plows have left walls of snow and ice 2 feet high or taller next to some parked cars. It can take an hour or more of backbreaking work to get a parking spot to the point where a car can easily maneuver in and out without spinning tires. There are no written rules in the city about who can lay claim to a parking space that's been cleared of deep snow. In fact, it is technically illegal to reserve parking spots on public streets. "You're not allowed to claim your parking space, even if you did spend six hours in the ice chipping your way out," said Fredericksburg police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe. It's not unprecedented for a city to allow folks to save spots, though. In Boston, residents are allowed to use "space-savers" to claim their cleared spots, but those must be removed 48 hours after a snow emergency ends. Bledsoe said Police Chief David Nye told her about a snow-parking incident he observed in Alexandria, where he worked before he came to Fredericksburg. Alexandria police got a call from a resident who was angry that someone had stolen his cleared parking spot, but police had to tell him there was nothing they could do about it because public streets are for public parking. "All of the neighbors got together, and when the offender came back to their vehicle, it was completely covered with snow," Bledsoe said. "If that should happen to some poor person, I'd feel very sorry for them, but I'd understand." Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 2/10/2010
i recommend dumping a couple buckets of cold water over the space thief's car it will freeze into a hard layer they will enjoy
diggin it out gives you ownership. of course progressives see it 180 degrees.
If someone parked in the spot I cleared I wouldn't COVER their car with ice and snow, I would FILL it with ice and snow! Heh, heh, heh. Actually I wouldn't but it was fun to think about it. :^)
I was cleaning my car when this couple came up in a van asking if I needed help. I told them I didn't have a shovel. So, he kindly said, he had a machine and would clean all around my car for $25! I kindly rejected. Along came this other van offering help, I gave him the same story, he said he would do it for $15. I then offered $10, which he accepted. It was better than paying $25 for a spot that is not even mine. so, there are about a hand full of people that would take the advantage on weather lik
street, If the city had more capable personnel in snow removal, everyone would have less headaches. I do realize that there will be some shoveling required, but not to the extend that everyone is facing. I will be unable to park in front of my house until July, but that's the price paid for city living!
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
