Is this a parking violation?

[Richard]

The picture doesn't show it but, the lake is to the left and this is the dead end of the road where our dock is.

The dock just outside the picture to the left. Our driveway is to the right. You can BARELY make out the beach of the lake.

Scenario: Saturday night there were two trucks parked where my car is. These were evidently guys out running their racoon dogs. TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) has build a parking lot about 1/8th mile behind me. This is a small, narrow road with blind turns. County decided that parked vehicles was an issue and since there was going to be a parking lot installed (now finished), they'd mark ENTIRE road no parking. There are FOUR no parking signs with this one being the fourth.

Ok, so to try to keep on top of things, I call Sherriff.

Officer shows up. He's a young guy. Seems he knows one of the truck owners (friends).

The officer said he didn't know if he could write a no parking ticket /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. He said the the sign was on the right side of the road. (the road curves left and goes INTO the water, so technically, the right truck was on the right side of road). I pointed that logic out to him, he said, well, we're trying to get "joe schmoe" on the phone, he works for the fire department (the truck owner that's his friend evidently).

He said they're just out running their dogs. I said, "that's fine by me, but there is a parking lot for this express purpose of parking and running their dogs has nothing to do with it"

Officer: ya...well..uh... but the sign is on the right side, TVA owns the left side...

me: Ok? You all have ticketed others out here. Tell me this then officer... what (evidently) would it take FOR you to give them a ticket? how much clearer must the requirements be?

Officer: hmm.. well let me call my supervisor

Long story short, it was CLEAR to me that this guy was NOT going to write his buddy a parking ticket. I called Monday and spoke with the Chief. I mentioned to the chief that it's OK by me, if he won't give his pal a ticket BUT, instead of defending the violator, he SHOULD have said to me

"hey listen pal... this is a personal friend of mine... let's pass on a ticket this time and I'll tell him to NOT park here again since it puts ME in an official bind of doing something I don't want to do... and next time he'll park where he's supposed to, fair enough"

I'd been fine with that.

I'm just curious if others here view this as a defacto violation of the sign or not.

 

[Richard]

I might add, on left side of road, you can see a short post. TVA use to have a "No motorized vehicles/no parkign" sign on THAT post too but a storm ripped it down and it's not fixed yet.

Point being, BOTH TVA and County have agreed that this area can get TOO congested and with advent of parking lot, it was better to post whole road no parking.

Unfortunately for us, this can become grand central parking lot when open hunting season begins, and now with the advent of the hiking trail you see, it also attracts hikers/campers... (all of which again, the parking lot was specifically built for)

 

[EddieWalker]

"Scenario: Saturday night there were two trucks parked where my car is."



You really called the cops for two cars parked where you yourself park you own car????

Why is it OK for you to park there and nobody else? What am I missing here?

Eddie

 

[Richard]

Well Eddie, You are missing that I parked my car there just so I could take the picture and give an approximation of the situation so it would be as clear as I could make it.

We don't park there. About the only folks that park there are sometimes hikers, sometimes campers and sometimes hunters.

Our house is a fair way up to the right and parking here would be a REAL pain in the neck.

What happens and what caused the decisions by the powers that be to make this no parking are when there are something like a dozen vehicles (mostly trucks) parked here in every direction, clogging up OUR driveway and OUR only way to get in/out.

Finally after one episode, we had the Chief out here, some big cheese with TVA and another cheese with the county. They all agreed that the only way to prevent issues happening (and wrecks along road because of the OTHER dozen vehicles strewn haphazardly down the road with blind turns) was to make the ENTIRE ROAD no parking & install a parking lot (their decision, not mine of course) Again, there is a defacto parking lot just a bit up the road. It was put there specifically for parking /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

We DO have two folks in the family that are handicapped and it was nice parking there ourselves when we were out on the boat. (since we ourselves were parked there, we didn't cause ourselves an ingress/egress problem) We have given that up now that it's no parking.

Even if we DID still use it, that doesn't change the reality of "is this person in violation" (it would only mean that we too, would be in violation during our use of it)

 

[EddieWalker]

Richard,

Thanks for the clarification. I misunderstood your original post due to the picture.

As to whether the officer should have issued a ticket or not.

In my opinion, a warning should have been suficient if it was his friend or not. Lots of people used to park there before the signs were posted, probably lots of them don't even know the signs are there.

Eddie

 

[KubotaSteve]

I would say No Parking is No Parking and you were right. What did the Chief say when you called him?
The only question I have is about the dock. Is it where people can launch boats? And if so where do they park their vehicle after they launch? If it is just a dock then I agree with no parking.
As far as the officer, if you don't a satisfactory answer, you may want to bump it up to the county commissioners/board of supervisors. I know this is relatively small and minor incident but does cause concern when an officer only picks and chooses what laws to uphold. The only thing is that if you pursue this, be prepared for a possible backlash from law enforcement as you will be a marked man. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Richard]

The dock is our private dock and there is NO place to leave ones vehicle (with trailer) after they're gone boating, other than what you see in front of you.

I've only seen a single person in 15 years try to put their small bass boat (or smaller) in at this location. They seem to like the official ramps where they can do it. No place to leave their trailer might also be a factor.

The Chief was talking to the officer later that day. No idea what was said. I guess i'll find out later the implication of what was said when the next 'complaint' is made.

If the officer writes them up, I'll have reason to think he made it crystal clear. If on the other hand, the officer cuffs ME /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I might have reason to wonder! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Mosby]

Alright, just an opinion. As I understand it, the sign in the picture is the 4th and final sign. I assume then the car is parked well past the last sign? If that is the scenario, I would make the argument that the car is parked in safe territory. The question has to be asked as to how far a no parking sign extends. Some would argue that it is between the signs. I'm sure there has to be some distance stated in some code somewhere and I would wager it isn't that far. It's not safe to assume that it is everything past the sign or there would only need to be one and not 4.

If I have misread the scenario, please forgive me. It wouldn't be the first time. And just an opinion.

 

[kenmac]

In the State of Alabama, if a City, County, or State makes a law makes or an ordinance that there is no parking in an area, they don't have to put up a sign to say no parking in that area it is the law & you can be given a citation. A sign is put up only as a courtesy to the public .You might want to check in your area to see if the entire area has been designated a no parking zone.

 

[Highbeam]

The sign is on the wrong side of the road. The car as parked, is fine. We have lots of roads around here that are marked that way to prohibit parking on a particular side of the road. If the intent is to not allow parking anywhere then the signage should be different.