Parking tickets aren’t warnings
Many students woke up Tuesday morning in Logan to a citation on their vehicle – ticketed for parking overnight on the street.
Parking overnight on Logan streets and city-owned parking lots is now prohibited as of Monday, and the restriction will remain in place until Feb. 28, 2005.
The restriction will be enforced from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. to provide snow plow vehicles an opportunity to plow the streets, Logan Mayor Doug Thompson said.
Tickets are $15 if paid within 10 working days and $30 after that.
The tickets are cited by a private company, Logan Parking Authority, which is contracted out by the city, Thompson said.
“It is for safety sake,” Thompson said.
He said Logan city has analyzed the restriction three times since he has been mayor, by researching cities in a similar climatic zone.
“We’ve come to the conclusion what we are doing is the best solution,” he said.
When cars are parked on the street, ice chunks build up in the middle of the road and become a safety hazard for other vehicles and, Thompson said, can cause even a snow plow truck to go out of control.
“We’re not trying to make money on this,” Thompson said.
The reason why vehicles are ticketed when the weather is dry is because, “We can never predict when the snow is going to come,” Thompson said.
However, some students have been unaware of the restriction.
“I was upset,” said Marie Aitken, an interior design junior and Old Farm student apartment complex resident.
Aitken said she was ticketed for parking her car Monday overnight on 800 East.
“I was surprised, because I didn’t know,” she said.
Besides her ticket, she said, she was unaware of the restriction until reading about it in the Utah Statesman on Tuesday – one day late.
“I had no idea until I read the paper,” she said.
It would have been helpful if warning fliers were posted on apartment doors and on cars parked on the street before the restriction took place, Aitken said.
Thompson said only warning tickets will be given for the first week, but Aitken said her’s was an actual ticket..
“I just wish that I would have known,” she said.
Yet, another problem looms and won’t go away with increased awareness.
“Old Farm has no parking,” Aitken said and parked on the street because Old Farm’s lot was full.
Aitken also said she would have been ticketed if she had parked overnight in the Stadium parking lot across the street.
Parking on the street was her only option, she said.
Aitken said the only way to avoid the problem would be to come home earlier, which in turn would force somebody else to park on the street.
However, some students weren’t as upset as Aitken.
Chris Petry, a parks and recreation senior, previously attended Penn State University and said they also had overnight parking restrictions in the winter, but the penalty was more intense.
“I got towed,” he said, for parking overnight on the street in Pennsylvania. “They’ll tow for anything.”
The price for a towed vehicle in Pennsylvania is $80, he said.
“I would rather have the snow plowed than cars parked on the road,” said Nick Kasamassa, a freshman majoring in English and long-time Logan resident.
“I have never had any problems with it,” he said.
For those who prefer to leave their car overnight on the street after drinking alcohol at the bar or a party, Thompson said, “Get a designated driver.”
For more information, Logan Parking Authority is located at 135 N. Main Street, Suite #109.
The hours the office is open is from noon to 1:30 p.m. Information can also be accessed at their Web site at http://logan.parkingauthority.com, where tickets can also be paid for and appealed online. That phone number is (435)-750-0255.
-joelfeathers@cc.usu.edu