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Bye, Bye Hollywood Sign... at Least Temporarily [Updated]
Photos: Laundry Day in L.A.
One Way to Take Care of Business
A sign and a nearby parking meter on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks
For years us Angelenos have been trained when the clock strikes six, we're free from parking tix. But now that the city standard for enforceable parking times has been pushed back later into the day, our human habit ways are out of whack.
Last night in Sherman Oaks, a cursory street poll found that people didn't pay at meters enforced until 8 p.m. with signs above saying "2 Hour Parking, 8 AM to 6 PM."
"I thought we didn't have to pay after 6 p.m.?" one bemused woman questioned. She pointed to the sign noting the "8 AM to 6 PM" text. Then I pointed the meter text out. "Ohhhhhhh. I'm glad I didn't get a ticket," she said relieved.
Ohhhhh yeah, indeed. The problem in this case is that after 6 p.m., there is no posted restriction on how long you can park there. In theory, if it's a Friday night when the same meters are enforced to 12 a.m., you're free to park there for more than 2 hours after 6 p.m., provided that you keep feeding the meter. It's just that with no sign telling you this directly, this situation feels rather ambiguous at the moment.
And ambiguous it is. The Department of Transportation is not ticketing people in these situations just yet, but they're not going to stop you from paying after 6 p.m. in the meantime. "The hours on the meter insert will eventually be enforced," explained Bruce Gilman of LADOT. "Once we're able to switch out the signage that's posted, they will be enforced. It would be inappropriate [to ticket] without the new signs."
What happened is that the department swapped out on inside on the meter faster than the signs. "Ideally we wanted to do it together, but we got a little ahead of ourselves," Gilman said. He warned that new signs are being installed and most all limits--the standard is two hours--will remain exactly the same, but will reflect the new enforcable hours.
So what's the moral of the story here? Read everything and pay attention. Those signs are coming soon and and a new life in LA, like it or not, is coming.
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I just wanna whinge, one more time, about how no free parking after 6PM is gonna blow, as does the DOT in general.
I agree, the transition blows. I think it's needed in the long run, but the transition is icky, too many problems. On Saturday, I had to cut my time at Laurel Tavern short cause I had to go, meter was out! I would have stayed, spent more money, but I had to go cause the meter was out and I just wasn't willing to move my car around every 2 hours.
Another approach to this is what the merchants want and need, too. Do they want turnover or people sticking around? Where is a good balance?
"the standard is two hours"
Except for basically everywhere, where it's more often than not actually only 1 hour... making it nearly impossible to visit a restaurant to enjoy a nice sit-down dinner without having to freak out about parking half way through your meal.
It's to the point where I need to start carrying around an extra backpack filled with quarters just so I can have enough to feed the meter long enough to get through dinner! And an alarm clock to remind me when my meter is about to run out...
Ha! yeah, I set up an alarm on my iPhone to remind me.
In the popular districts, we're going to find more one hour times, but hopefully the community, both businesses and consumers/residents, will revolt and things will change soon.
I love Gilman's "but we got a little ahead of ourselves". Ya think!
How much are all these new signs gonna cost, and how long will it take to recoup these costs with the higher parking fees? Oh, and what happens to the old signs? Do they get reused, stored, or just tossed?
Good questions, db. I can ask.
I'm pretty sure that if the meter times and the street signs conflict, you have grounds for fighting the ticket. The last one I fought, I won, but it took well over a year to get my money back, and then I had to jump through a few bureaucratic hoops to get it back.
While we're on the subject of tickets; A warning for downtowners. All this week and last two motorcycle cops have been bird dogging the stretch of 7th St. between Olive and Figueroa. Cars, peds, whatever they can get. They're having themselves a little a ticket writing frenzy, so be careful out there.
Trust me it is all a scam! it's the second time this happens to me!
I was ticketed unfairly again but this time after parking my car for a maximum of 45 minutes in a 2 hour zone M-S 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This was not a parking meter it was regular street parking.
A few months back I was ticketed by the same government agency "Los Angeles Parking Enforcement", I was ticketed unfairly at around 7:45 a.m. in a meter that was not enforced until 9:00 a.m. I have pictures to back up the validity of my claim showing the meter number and also the sign that clearly states that it is not enforced until 9:00 a.m.
Something needs to be done and I am more than willing to speak to the media about this unjust situation(problem) that is occurring in our city and I as a citizen feel like I have no control over. It almost feels like the city is against it's residents and trying to pay it's deficit by scamming it's citizens who follow the laws and street regulations by following the street signs and laws.
I don't have time every time the "Parking Enforcement" agent feels like breaking the law or being incompetent to write letters and take time to make phone calls when in reality I have done nothing wrong and never broke the law. I did exactly what the sign read and did nothing wrong to be Penalized with a citation between $48 and $55 dollars. In these economic times every penny counts and to be unjustly fined it really does hurt and I don't want to put up with it.
This is plain unfair and Illegal and in America it is plain hurtful and painful to know that we live in a society where such unfair acts are being practiced by city employees.
Someone please help!