So my city has started with certain weeks being “Public Service Weeks.” On the first and third trash days of the month, they’re supposed to street sweep, suck up leaves (in the fall), etc.
The rule is that we’re supposed to have our cars off the streets between 9am and 4pm on the Public Service Days (first and third trash days of the month). It was announced on the city’s website, on the city-owned cable channel, and local paper.
However, I have an issue with this new law becauese there’s no actual signage saying that you can’t park on the streets on certain days. This seems like a unenforcable parking violation. How do you justify giving a ticket to a visitor of the city who is unaware of such a regulation? Or what if a resident doesn’t go to the city’s website or cable channel or read the local paper etc. Or how is a resident supposed to know the trash day for every other neighborhood in the city?
I lived in Chicago for three years where they had this sort of thing as well, but they had signs stating which days of the month you had to have your car off the street. So I don’t mind this sort of street cleaning plan. It’s the lack of signs that bugs me. It seems like a total revenue scam, especially since they often don’t even street sweep but once every third “Public Service Day.”
Now, I got a ticket this week, and I plan on fighting it because I don’t think a city can issue a parking violation unless there is actual signage stating when or where you can’t park. I mean, we don’t have “understood” handicapped parking spots; they’re explictly marked, and we woudn’t accept getting a ticket for parking in an “unmarked” handicapped spot, would we?
So I ask: is this a city hall fight that’s winnable?