Posted on 09/14/2013 10:47:07 AM PDT by lowbridge
It sounds absurd: tickets and warning letters for parking in your own driveway.
But Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey OConnor says its happened on two city streets one in the West End and one in Squirrel Hill. And he fears, it could happen elsewhere.
This could happen tomorrow to any resident of the city of Pittsburgh, said OConnor.
This is where Ive been parking for over 18 years, said Eileen Freedman, as she pointed at the driveway to her home on Hobart Street in Squirrel Hill.
She says she recently got a warning letter from the Pittsburghs Bureau of Building Inspection.
Were no longer allowed to use our driveway to park, because of a law that says you have to park at least 30 feet away from the street, said Freedman.
She says there wouldnt be space to park 30 feet back between her home and the neighboring one because its just too narrow.
A pregnant mother of seven who lives across the street is trying to follow the rule, but cant get out of the drivers side of her van anymore. She has to crawl out of the passengers side when she parks the vehicle between her home and her neighbors.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburgh.cbslocal.com ...
In some towns it is illegal to block the sidewalk with your vehicle. One man got a ticket for blocking a place where a sidewalk would have been if there had been a sidewalk.
In another town, it was illegal to park on the street. Many homes had narrow driveways going to a garage in the back yard. Most of these laws went on the books back in the 1920s.
One of the town locals said I should be on the board...I told her I’d be afraid of strangling someone.
If you’re blocking the sidewalk, that’s a different story, especially if the city maintains the sidewalk. But no sidewalk is going to be 30 ft. from the street.
You put too much thought into this. A better explanation is that O’Connor prodded someone to enforce this old law just so he could get on the news and play hero.
He wants to be mayor like his old man was. Not some big conspiracy.
Is there supposed to be some reason for this incredibly stupid law, or do they just enjoy being a-holes?
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They do like that, but here in the City of Pittsburgh its almost certainly about the fine money. They are looking for money, the number of parking meters, residential parking zones and enforcement has really exploded over the past several years. Mr. Peduto, the councilman who will be mayor in January, proposed traffic signal cameras 5 years or so ago and was quite blunt that the idea was to generate money from tickets- he didn’t even make a pretense of saying it had anything to do with safety.
The law in question was passed 60 years ago and was never enforced, until suddenly now. Some wise acre in a city office found it in the ancient scrolls and the light bulb went off in his bureaucratic mind that this was found money.
I sincerely doubt that the city government wants to get people out of their cars. Fewer cars means less traffic or parking tickets and that means less money.
If that is in fact, the rationale behind the Pittsburgh rule, it's downright asinine to enforce it in August/September.
LOL
Exactly. When I was kid in grammar school we used to get these weekly or monthly newsletters with stories from around the world.
I still remember the pictures from China with all the bikes and no cars on the streets.
Went to Canada a few years ago and saw major streets in cities with entire lanes closed to cars and open only to bikes.
Now in my own smallish town in AZ they have announced “bike boulevards” where cars will be restricted or banned and only bikes allowed to use.
I wonder when the kids in China will look at pictures of the people in the USA riding bikes and be thankful they live in such a wonderful country that still allows cars and coal power plants...
LOL #2 keep going I am having a laughing fit...would love to have seen you in action...
Not true, local government has been enforcing set-back rules on your property for many, many years.
Plank #1 of the Communist Manifesto is the abolition of private property.
Not after the house was built and approved e.g., inspected and given a CoO. I know better.
Not true, and not better. If you want to now build a garage in the set-back area, you will find it is still there.
You’re talking building regs and I say if they change that AND/ORzoning after it is already built and approved fir occupancy it is grandfathered for the owner. I ve seen this dozens of times
Besides we’re talking parking and it would be simple to sue under constructive endorsement given multiple instances where they condone the same infraction in other locations with the same rule
I’d like to see the snow plow that left a 30 foot wide pile of snow in its wake.
ping
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