Note that the stated period of enforcement is from 7 am to midnight, 7 days a week.
Except.
On Sundays.
MPD has indicated that it would * not* issue tickets on Sundays for vehicles not displaying the zone sticker that are parked on the resident-permit-only side of the street.
So the actual enforcement is just six days a week -- Monday through Saturday.
I look forward to hearing in a few months from residents on the impacted blocks how the one-side-of-the-street-for-Ward 5-residents-only parking is working out.
See this comment from a Seaton Place NW resident:
Congratulations to R Street! Zone 5 resident permit parking is needed on Seaton Place NW with all of the new businesses opened in the area, it is needed. we are happy to have the businesses in the area and support them.
See this Email exchange between a resident on the unit block of R Street NW and 5D Commander Solberg:
From:
"Solberg, Andrew (MPD)"
To:
Tom Moreno ; "Mendelson, Phil (COUNCIL)"
; "abonds@dccouncil.us"
; "Catania, David A. (COUNCIL)"
; "vorange@dccouncil.us"
; "dgrosso@dccouncil.us"
; "Graham, Jim (COUNCIL)"
; "Evans, Jack (COUNCIL)"
; "Cheh, Mary (COUNCIL)"
; "Bowser, Muriel (COUNCIL)"
; "kmcduffie@dccouncil.us" ;
"Wells, Thomas (COUNCIL)" ;
"Alexander, Yvette (COUNCIL)" ;
"Barry, Marion (COUNCIL)" ; ATD MPD2
Cc:
ATD EOM3 ; "scott@scott-roberts.net"
Sent:
Monday, June 10, 2013 8:42 AM
Subject:
RE: [BloomingdaleDC|#2293] Zone 5 resident permit only signage installed on R
St NW, nearby
Mr.
Moreno,
It
is not accurate that we do not ticket cars on Sundays. We do.
In some case, we relax enforcement near houses of worship, though this
is only during hours of worship, and not
just on Sundays.
Andy
Solberg
Commander,
5D
From:
Tom Moreno [mailto:tommoreno@gmail.com]
Sent:
Monday, June 10, 2013 8:37 AM
To:
Mendelson, Phil (COUNCIL); abonds@dccouncil.us; Catania, David A. (COUNCIL);
vorange@dccouncil.us; dgrosso@dccouncil.us; Graham, Jim (COUNCIL); Evans, Jack
(COUNCIL); Cheh, Mary (COUNCIL); Bowser, Muriel (COUNCIL);
kmcduffie@dccouncil.us; Wells, Thomas (COUNCIL); Alexander, Yvette (COUNCIL);
Barry, Marion (COUNCIL); Solberg, Andrew (MPD); ATD MPD2
Cc:
ATD EOM3; scott@scott-roberts.net
Subject:
Fwd: [BloomingdaleDC|#2293] Zone 5 resident permit only signage installed on R
St NW, nearby
Councilmembers,
Chief Lanier and Commander Solberg,
I
received the following message from my neighborhood list serve which I found
quite upsetting. Before I ask any
questions, if the statement regarding Sunday parking enforcement is inaccurate,
please let me know and accept my apologizes for the message and thank you for
your time.
If
the statement is accurate regarding Sunday parking, can you please explain the
rationale behind it? I find it troubling
that if the most minor infractions aren't enforced or are easily dismissed by
the DC MPD, what motivation should we have to continue relying on the MPD for
more severe infractions that take may place in our neighborhood.
Also,
if this is true for our zone, is the same true for other zones (Eastern Market,
Georgetown, etc.)? If so, I would like
to know, as driving to those locations is much easier for me if I can park at
will anywhere in the District on Sundays without worry about ticketing for
parking infractions. If not true for
other zones, why is ours not enforced?
This
has previously been discussed in our list serve which I have yet to see a
response (I may have missed it though).
A link to that posting is:
http://bloomingdaleneighborhood.blogspot.com/2013/06/neighbors-raises-issue-about-parking.html
I
appreciate your time and attention to this message and look forward to your
response.
Sincerely,
Tom
Moreno
Unit
Block, R Street NW
And see this Email exchange from the LeDroit Park list at Yahoogroups regarding the same issue on 3rd Street NW:
From
the LeDroit Park list:
From
Nina Brown:
Dear
Lt. Jova,
I
was instructed by the 5th district responding officers to send an e-mail out
to
the list serve addressed to you. As you may know, many of the neighbors on
the
1800 block of 3rd St. NW (Between Rhode Island Ave NW and Anna Cooper
Circle),
worked diligently to sign a petition to request zone 1/2 parking. The
original
signs only offered protection Mon-Fri to 8:00 p.m. Since the zoning
originally
did not meet the needs of the residents, a number of neighbors worked
diligently
to get another petition signed and work through the proper city
channels
to have it changed to be effective Mon-Sun 7 am – 12 midnight.
Yesterday
around 12:45 p.m. I placed a call to 311 who directed me to 911 to
report
approximately 6 cars parked on the Zone 1/2 permit side of the street.
The
responding officers were from the 5th District. Both officers were very
friendly
and courteous but directed me to post my concerns related to the
outcome
on the list serve as the infraction is occurring in 3rd District.
When
I spoke with the 5D officers they informed me that they don't ticket
vehicles
on Sunday's out of courtesy because they belong to the parishioners of
the
churches. I informed the officers I was not trying to be difficult or
disrespectful
to those worshipping, however, on Rhode Island Ave NW in between
6th
& New Jersey, there are signs that explicitly state cars can park there on
Sundays
from 10 or 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. On 3rd street it explicitly states only
zoned
residents can park Mon-Sun 7 a.m.-12a.m. If the city doesn't enforce
parking
on Sundays due to church, why would they issue a sign where it
explicitly
states that this is a violation of a city ordinance?
Sensing
my frustration, the officer informed me that when they write tickets,
the
parishioners complain to the pastors, the pastors call the commanders, and
the
tickets just get voided. His solution was that they would record the plate
numbers,
go to the church and make an announcement, and then in 5-10 minutes
come
back and issue tickets if the cars were still there. 3 hours after the
call,
many of the cars were still there with no tickets. I also informed the
officers
that information seemed strange, because when I visit Eastern Market or
U
Street on Sundays and I am parked illegally in a Zone 6, I receive a ticket,
even
on a Sunday. The officer then informed me that these neighborhoods have
special
arrangements with DDOT to pay overtime for Sunday enforcement.
I
find it alarming that District police and City Government would blatantly
ignore
a law or statute just because it's Sunday. I think it sets a dangerous
precedent.
If I go to Macys on a Sunday, steal a dress for church, will I not be
prosecuted
because it's Sunday and I'm going to church? I highly doubt it. The
next
time I get a parking ticket or my car gets re-located for street cleaning
should
I contest on the premise that I was engaged in religious worship which
gives
me immunity from city laws and regulations? That probably wouldn't work
either.
In addition, not enforcing the parking laws on Sunday sets a horrible
precedent
for further lack of enforcement on Fridays and Saturday nights when we
also
have a large number of non-residents frequenting the area.
I
think the most disturbing and frustrating part of this is the fact that
certain
neighborhoods are given special protections. I'm not naïve to the fact
that
Ledroit Park may not experience the same traffic volume as Eastern Market
or
U Street, but the last time I checked, I'm paying city taxes just as they
are.
If these special arrangements are covered through all District residents'
taxes,
and not through an additional tax subsidy or fee for those neighborhoods,
the
same "perks" should be offered to all residents equally. It's a
blatant
inequity
that is unjust and uncalled for.
I'm
not sure the solution to the problem, but if the city is going to
selectively
decide when to enforce the parking laws, then there should never be
another
parking ticket generated ever.
Nina
Brown
1848
– 3rd St.
From
Leemah:
I
find it alarming that the residents or whomever involved could not allow one
day, Sunday to be exact, for outsiders to come in and worship at a church they
have been members of for decades.
I'm
sure the church(s) and the members there of do much for the community.
Could
we not be a little inconvenienced for a few hours one day for those who have
demonstrated good service to this community for many many years?
It's
called "hospitality."
From
Anita Norman:
I
also, contacted 311 on Sunday afternoon around 4:20 pm, only to get the same
warm and fussy response from MPD 3rd District. I spoke to dispatcher 8307. I asked her to send the police for
parking enforcement in the 1800 block of 3rd St. N.W. which is zoned for Ward 1
and Ward 5 residents only from Monday thru – Sunday 7 am -12 mn . She began to
explain that they do not do parking enforcement. Mr. Cross of Parking
Enforcement/DPW directed us to call 311 for ticket enforcement on Sundays,
who
would dispatch someone from MPD. Dispatcher 8307 asked me several questions
like the type of violation, the make and
model of the vehicles and tag numbers. I do not believe that this is the
responsibility of the residents to perform when requesting parking enforcement
of a restricted area. This isn’t the first time that I have been met with
resistance from MPD to come to enforce parking rules/ laws. I think that when a
resident calls and identifies that there is a parking violation that that is
enough to dispatch MPD. Please do not make us targets of retaliation by having
us go outside to write down makes and models, color of vehicles and license
plates.
Thanks,
Anita
Norman
From
Dina Lewis:
Thanks
all—I am looping in Lt. Jova and, at his suggestion, DDOT on this issue. Mr.
Harvey worked with the community on the Zone parking issue so that we can get
resolution on this problem.
D.
From
Justin:
Thank
you for starting this conversation.
When
there this is an influx of cars in the neighborhood, Sunday to be exact. Drivers have blatantly parked their cars
illegally in the neighborhood (i.e. blocking the crosswalks at Anna Cooper
Circle, parking their vehicles past the "no parking signs" at the
corner of 2nd & T / Old Maple Ave NW streets and obstructing a driver's
line of sight in either direction...etc.).
This
behavior creates a dangerous environment for all the residents walking/driving,
including those traveling into the neighborhood to worship.
For
years, there has been little, if any Sunday parking enforcement, so aside from
calling 911, I will be curious to hear any additional suggestions from Lt. Jova
& DDOT.
Sincrely,
Justin
And here are some tweets:
- @ScottRobertsDC good because the residents need it in the area!
2 comments:
Second Street, north of Rhode Island has enhanced RPP. I don't know how long they have had it, but I don't recall community discussion about it. There was quite a bit of conversation about R Street.
I would prefer MPD enforce fire hydrant, crosswalk, alley and intersection encroachment over RPP violations.
LOL Captcha - presbytery
At least there is now heightened awareness of the newly installed Zone 5 resident permit only parking signage in Bloomingdale.
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