Description
Every single day there is a City of New Haven Emergency Operations SUV (#42 or #43) that parks illegally and in violation of the parking requirements that all other residents are held accountable to, and this vehicle is NEVER ticketed, booted, or towed. The person who operates this vehicle is a resident on either Academy or Court and is not conducting city business during the times that the vehicle is parked in violation. Often it is parked too close to the fire hydrant or to the entrance of Court Street making the turn onto court dangerous and difficult to navigate.
Moreover, the vehicle is huge and is often parked nearly on top of other vehicles or blocking in other vehicles that are legally and respectfully parallel parked on the street. There have been numerous times that we parkers have been unable to easily get our cars out of our parking space without damage due to this vehicle being parked illegally, or too close.
It seems unfair and unjust that a person operating a city vehicle outside of their business hours is free to park anywhere they wish, in violation of many parking codes, and yet we residents are ticked regularly while simply unloading groceries or home goods for a matter of moments.
If a person is using a city vehicle as a personal vehicle they should be held to the same standards and regulations that the rest of us Wooster Square residents are held to when it comes to parking.
19 Comments
Brittany (Registered User)
Mahfouz (Registered User)
Frank Colombo (Registered User)
As a resident of Wooster Square this is aggravating. Perhaps Alder Aaron Greenberg can look into this quality of life matter. It's not difficult to ID the employee because all city parking permits are specifically assigned.
Disturbing to think the tickets were waived. This does merit investigation. Other City employees have been ticketed and tickets waived because their supervisor requested a rescission. However this was a one shot deal.
Employees were warned that if repeated (parking beyond posted time limit) future violations would not not be waived and they would be liable for the fine. So the fact that the driver of this EO vehicle repeatedly parks in violation means either they are immune from ticketing or tickets getting waived. Mr. Hausladen, do you care to respond?
citizen (Guest)
Frank Colombo (Registered User)
Rick Fontana is the Director of the Emergency Operations Center. I am also aware that Traffic and Parking director Doug Hausladen is cracking down on city employees issued parking permits, who engage in disobeying the rules such as authorized parking locations and time limits.
So is there a double standard for City employees who are well connected? I want to give Mr. Hausladen the benefit of the doubt that he is unaware of ticket waivers in this matter if that's true because I admired him as 8th ward Alderman.
關閉 Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
Hey all, thanks for bringing this to our (my) attention. Just spoke with the city employee that is assigned the car and who needs it for overnight emergency purposes; the employee lives in the neighborhood and apologizes for the headaches they potentially caused in the neighborhood. We have solved the issue moving forward by finding your neighbor a better place to park the vehicle when they drive it home and there is no available on-street parking. Again, we are sorry for the behavior, and thank you for the constructive dialogue and using SeeClickFix.
Have a great weekend!
Reopened Frank Colombo (Registered User)
KnightRiders (Guest)
Frank Colombo (Registered User)
Another thing- sometimes when there is no available street parking when my neighbors and myself come home from a late night working, we park in a space closest to our front doors out of concern for our safety.
Obviously these are not legal parking spots . So when we find a ticket on our windshield issued early in the morning, well before departing for work it really is dismaying. If only T and P could wait until at least 9 am before ticketing Residential Zone Permit holders in these instances, but I guess that's way too much to ask. It's wrong to treat residents as adversaries.
I am always going to choose safety, because I would rather pay a parking fine than risk being held up at gunpoint.
Abbott (Registered User)
Frank Colombo (Registered User)
Abbot-
Thanks for the appreciation. I understand I was opening myself up to criticism regarding sometime late night parking spots, but I never obstructed sight lines. Baseless fear of illusory gunman-rather presumptuous of you.
Like I stated previously I am a longtime resident.
Guns are not required to commit a mugging, just the threat of violence. However I respect your point of view.
Unfortunately the Department of Traffic and Parking operates from an "us against them Gotcha mentality" . Always has, not just now. Many non-residents are permitted to park for 2 hours . I reiterate my previous statement- residential permit holder's should be given consideration.
Apparently certain City employees are.
citizen (Guest)
Frank Colombo (Registered User)
dew21 (Guest)
I've observed that parking meter maid alright, flying in his car the wrong way down Court St. in the middle of the day and almost colliding into my car as I turned onto our street to unload my luggage.
The point is that no one should ever be parking in those spots at the entrance of Court. Ever. I walk along Greene Street or Olive after parking my car, sometimes overnight due to my job, and I do the best I can to protect myself without taking non-parking spots. We live in a city... that comes with the territory. And for the Emergency personnel to suggest that his emergency occupation doesn't afford him the time to walk a few more steps or yards seems a bit far fetched. He could jog or walk swiftly, just as I would have to do if I were faced with responding to a personal emergency.
When any car, parks in those spots it's creating more of an issue for us all in the event of a real and true emergency. God forbid a firetruck needed to hook up to that hydrant, or get a second apparatus close to Court. If vehicles are parked in those spots we're all done for. It's not fair to compromise the safety of all for the convenience of some. We do such a good job at being neighborly about so many other things, but each other's safety is paramount!
City of New Haven (Verified Official)
Frank Colombo (Registered User)
Every resident of and parking in an established Residential Permit Zone is required to obtain a Permit for their designated zone.The original complaint makes no reference to a Zone 5 permit displayed on the emergency SUV.
The complaint states that the vehicle is obstructing cars, Court St access and "parked in violation" which I interpret to mean parking beyond the posted time limit of 2 hours for all visitors. Is there an exemption for certain City of New Haven employees?
關閉 Mahfouz (Registered User)
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
Frank Colombo (Registered User)