Dear Neighbor,

As many of us have experienced first hand, Parking Enforcement has been essentially harassing the residents of South 6th Street. Parking Enforcement has completely disregarded S.U.N. permit holders and are treating most of us as non-residents and loiterers. They drive by daily and know who lives here, yet they are nitpicking at us and giving us citations– even more than people who are actually in violation of the parking laws.

Many of us have been home when Lowell Elementary traffic is occurring and we all see parents parking in the middle of the street, throwing on their hazards as if that makes them exempt from laws. Many of us have witnessed non-residents parking for much longer than 15 minutes on both sides of the street without ever receiving a citation. So why is it that the actual residents who pay rent, who pay for parking permits, who play the street sweep game every single month–why is it that WE are the ones being targeted when Parking Enforcement is supposed to be there to help protect the street from people who DO NOT live here?

Many of us have been victims of countless street sweep tickets due to a legitimate inability to move your car, like not being home, the street sweep truck being early, etc. and the city still sides with giving us a fine. Many of us have received citations for not having a S.U.N. permit when we in fact do have a permit. Many of us have been told that we are exempt from the 15 minute time limit on the Lowell Elementary side of the street due to being S.U.N. permit holders only to come to our cars to find a citation for violating the time limit. 

Where are we supposed to park when we get home late on a weekday and the residential side of the street is totally filled up? Where are we supposed to park when it’s the weekend and the majority of us residents are home during the day? Where are we supposed to park during the street sweep if we are only allowed 15 minutes on the Lowell Elementary side of the street? Are we all supposed to be okay taking turns being cited by Parking Enforcement because we have nowhere else to park? This is not acceptable. The city DID NOT make these rules with residents in mind. They made these rules with profit in mind. The city is profiting off its own residents and it is not by accident. They know we live here and have nowhere else to go. They know we are the easiest targets for their nitpicking and senseless citations. There is a reason none of the parents get cited when they are blatantly breaking laws and they cite us when we are quietly in our home–it’s easier. They don’t have to chase down each resident. They can just ticket us up and down the street while we are distracted in our homes.

This should be illegal to do to your own residents. This is cruel and money hungry behavior. We already live in a city that is significantly more expensive than anywhere else in this country. Most of us live in studios on this street regardless of working full-time. Why should we also be harassed by our own city when most of us are already struggling to get by financially?

If you share these frustrations, I am putting together a petition to show the city we are done paying these silly citations and we demand fair reform of the parking laws on S. 6th Street to be in favor of the residents who pay to live here, rather than forcing us to live in this trap of street parking designed to profit the city.

Use your voice and let's make S. 6th Street a better place to live.