On Saturday, November 5, 2011 my nephew and I parked across the street from the Kearns Building on Main Street between 200 and 300 South. The parallel parking spot looked like an ordinary parking spot to both of us. There was nothing marked on the street or the curb to distinguish the spot from any others on the street. It appeared to have a meter next to the spot. We had been to this location previously and noted that parking was free for 2 hours on Saturdays. We both believed we had parked appropriately.
There was 3 – 4 inches of snow that morning and it was cold early in the day. We arrived about 8:50 A.M. We both had noticed snow on street signs located downtown. On some signs one could make out East or South but the street number was covered with snow, such as 300 South you could see the South but not the 300. It seems likely that the sign next our parking spot had snow on it because neither of us noticed the sign.
We stayed less than 2 hours as allowed and returned to a snow-covered windshield. After removing the snow, we discovered a wet parking ticket and were puzzled. Apparently, the ticket was for parking at an electric charging parking spot. At that point, we saw an ordinary white sign that was incredibly clear of snow while the street signs we passed on our way home still had snow on them. We were baffled that we had seen no publicity about these spots and later when we discussed the event, we couldn’t find anyone who was aware of the special electric car parking spots.
I called the phone number on the back of the ticket to ask about contesting the ticket and was told to report to the Salt Lake City Courts Building at: 333 South 200 East. My nephew and I went to the court on Monday, November 7, 2011 and talked to a “Hearing Officer” named Crystal, who declined to provide her last name. Crystal was cold and rude often cutting off our statements in the middle. Most of her attention was on a computer screen with a picture she did not willingly share with us. I could not see the picture and she did not offer to show me the picture after I asked about it. I did point out to her that the picture would have been taken when the ticket was written not when we arrived at the parking spot, which she did acknowledge. We doubt she listened to very much about our issues and found the title “Hearing Officer” particularly annoying.
Having driven over forty years, I have received a few parking tickets in various states. Every other state allowed me to contest the ticket before a legitimate judge. The ticket issuer and I had the opportunity to tell our story and the judge decided the legitimacy of the ticket. I believe every ticket I contested in the past was dropped after I explained why I was contesting the ticket.
My chief complaint here is that my nephew and I did not have an opportunity to be heard by a legitimate judge. Crystal only gave us two options to pay the fine or to request a small claims court date, which she offered in an unfriendly, threatening manner spewing off a list of hefty fees, $60 for judgment fee, $75 for attorney fees, and $45 for collection fees. At the conclusion of her two-option speech she handed me a Small Claims Court Information sheet. The sheet says the Enforcement Officer will not be present at trial but you can pay $18.50 to subpoena the Officer as a witness. The paper also says the judge will only hear evidence regarding your parking notice and related violation, which will be the only thing before them at the time of trial.
It goes on in confusing language to say, “If your complaint is regarding a problem with the way an area is marked, whether you feel the ordinance is not valid and should be changed. Why other vehicles in the area were not cited, or how you were treated by the Officer. The courtroom is not the proper place for such complaints and will not be addressed by the judge. The Hearing Officer will be able to direct you to the proper person or office to address your complaint.” Crystal did not mention anything about this to us.
It seems outrageous to me that a judge will not hear extenuating circumstances. It also seems unfair that Crystal did not listen to us and did not offer a venue for our legitimate complaints because she did not direct us to the proper person or office to address our complaints.
To summarize:
1. It was cold and snowy when we arrived at the parking spot and it is reasonable to believe the sign about electric cars charging was snow laden. It is unclear how the sign was snow free when we left the parking spot while other signs still had snow on them.
2. The parking spot was not clearly designated as different, which is a disservice to everyone. Why is there no street pavement designation as with a handicapped parking spot that is clearly marked with the handicapped emblem painted in a large rectangle? Why is the curb not painted a different color from other parking spots such as green? Why is the sign talking about charging electric cars not a vivid green or other color such as the bright blue handicapped signs or the yellow pedestrian crossing signs?
3. The fact that these parking spots exist for the use of electric car owners and are to be avoided by nonelectric cars is not publicized sufficiently because everyone we talked to both residents and nonresidents were unaware of them. If the purpose is to promote electric cars, why not boast about it with more publicity and much better designation of special parking spots for electric cars only with vibrant signs and colorful street markings.
4. The worst failure of this situation is the lack of opportunity to be heard to point out these legitimate issues without being threatened with almost $200 of fines!!! As a former resident and current visitor, I am sorely disappointed with the unjust and unfriendly manner this situation was handled.
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