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| Date:
Wed, 22 Jul 2009
14:38:56
-0500 Mr. Schofield, Chief Porter forwarded your e-mail message to me for follow-up. I want to begin by stating that you were correct in your assessment regarding the right of way on the north side of the 1100 block of Jefferson. The area to which you refer is not privately owned but is indeed a public right of way. During our research, we contacted the property owner and he acknowledged this as well. With that being said, you were also correct when you stated that the parking tickets should not have been issued for parking on private property without the owner's permission (14-97.1). Unfortunately, the responding officers were not aware of the easement and truly believed the vehicles were parking on private property. However, parking on the parkway is still a violation of local ordinances (14-86A(17)). That means that all the vehicles that have been ticketed in the past for parking within that grassy area still violated a Village parking ordinance, albeit a different ordinance. Since there was still a parking violation committed by the vehicle owners who parked on the parkway there are three options available to address the clerical error noted above. Those individuals who have not paid their tickets can seek a court date to contest the wrong ordinance being cited. What the Village prosecutor does in those instances is amend the ticket in court (before the judge) to reflect the correct ordinance/violation. Police department staff can otherwise "void" the current citations and re-issue tickets under the correct chapter & section. Both of these violations carry a $20 fine so there would be no difference in the actual outcome. Thirdly, the individuals cited can pay the current fine. I certainly do not want to sound unsympathetic to your situation but police department staff responded to a parking complaint in which a violation was observed. Due to some confusion with the property owner, the wrong ordinance was cited. Finally, police department staff is aware that you and your neighbors have sent a petition to Public Works requesting that the no parking on parkway ordinance be waived, thus allowing parking, but until that matter is resolved the police department will still have to enforce any future parkway violations. I hope this answers your questions but if you should need further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Deputy Chief Kurt Bluder (630) 434-5611 |