Description

Hello. I live in front of these two reserved spots on Hungerford Terrace. The signage causes much confusion, especially regarding the reserved spot to the right (empty spot in photo.) Last week a man returned to his car, finding a ticket. He thought the middle spot was not reserved (partly because cars with permits were parked on each end, as in the photo.) On Monday, a woman got out of her car, stared at the signs a minute, then drove off. Yesterday one person parked here and as she was walking away, the wife of the 90 year old man who lives in front of the spot informed her that it was in fact a reserved spot. The woman said she believed the spot wasn't reserved by her reading of the signs, but apologized and moved her car. An hour later another person parked here and began to walk away. I was able to warn her. She agreed that the signs were confusing. She moved her car. This morning two woman got out of their car, looked at the sign while seemingly debating whether they could legally park there, then walked off. They were ticketed and towed. The point of all these examples, just in the last week, and just ones that I witnessed from my kitchen window across the street, is that many many people are confused by the signs and unintentionally park in these spots without the proper permit. I myself was confused by the signs years ago and received a ticket. I contested the ticket and the city responded by nicely saying that I was wrong, the signs were right--but forgave my ticket anyway as sort of a goodwill gesture. Several other co-workers also received tickets here and contested them. No doubt the City of Burlington believes the signage is technically correct, but if the purpose of reserved spots is truly for people in need like my neighbor (who sometimes waits in his vehicle 45 minutes for a car to be towed from the spots in front of his house) and not just to make $$$ from tickets, than it behooves the city to more clearly mark the spaces. Many reserved spots on city owned lots around town (schools, Oakledge park, Waterfront park lot, etc. ) already have a white wheelchair painted in the middle. Other downtown reserved spots have white lines boxing them in. Most private reserved spots have an impossible-to-miss big blue square with a white wheelchair (City Market, Howard Center, U-Mall, etc.)--this is what I would recommend—and not just for these two spots on Hungerford Terrace, but for all reserved spots on city streets. Again, people can be blamed for not following the signs and continue to be ticketed and towed, but it's unfair to the people like my neighbor who needs the spot to be empty when he gets home, and unfair to people who unintentionally park here because of unclear signage. Thanks