parking permit question

[leko.livejournal.com]

My girlfriend got a $50 ticket because her parking sticker was "taped to the window."

Actually, the sticker was kinda static-stuck to the window. After having a hell of a time removing the old sticker, and because this one was only going to be on her car for a month anyway (we switched zones, so had to buy a permit that would expire in 1 or 2 months, which is a whole separate gripe), she stuck it to a clear plastic film and then static stuck that to her windshield. It had been fine for a few weeks, but I guess has started to come off a bit so it looks like it's taped on.

So she got a ticket, which didn't really surprise me, but she wants to appeal it, because she hasn't been able to find anything on the parking office's website saying the sticker needed to be stuck directly to the windshield and not taped there. Does anyone have a link to relevant city laws?

Comments

[glen-highland.livejournal.com]

Pretty weird. What did the ticket say, [√] Other ______________, and "sticker taped to window" was written in?

[leko.livejournal.com]

There aren't check boxes. There is just a blank box at the bottom of the ticket and "Permit taped to window" is printed in it.

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

Can't help you with the laws, but my mom's tenant clearly had a legal parking "visitor" pass on his windshield, and was parked in front of the house, (they had two cars, driveway only fit one), and we think because he had Virginia plates, he got a ticket. I was bullshit (as I am part owner of mom's house), and told them to appeal this $90 ticket, but I don't think they did. It urks me to no end to see the city take advantage like that. Good luck, and let us know the outcome.

[blondeamazon.livejournal.com]

I would guess the reason they got a ticket is because you can't use a visitor pass if you live there. If he is her tenant, he is parking and living illegally because he is not registering his car in MA.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

They come around and enter all the visitors passes in use on the street into their little computer. Really, I've seen them do it. You can only use the visitor pass on a car for a couple days and if it goes beyond that they write out a ticket.

i.e. it's something they watch all the time, it's not something that gets checked only when somebody complains.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Aside from the other issues raised by respondents to your comment, I will simply suggest that you, your mother, and the tenant all actually read the back of the visitor's permit.

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

Perhaps they think you're trying to get around the regulation that says you can't transfer a sticker from one car to another?

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

This would be my guess, but I assume that the sticker is associated with the car Somewhere in the documentation, which should make this easy to appeal.

[ron_newman]

Don't stickers have the license plate number marked on them?

[leko.livejournal.com]

They have the license plate written on them in sharpie.

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

They do, but you can transfer an existing registration to another car, which would let you keep the same plate number but have a different car. The parking permit is not valid on a different car, even with the same registration.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

What exactly is this point of this rule anyway? It's not like it causes more parking spaces to be used up.

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

Well, if you have a driveway or some other reserved parking space, you could still get a resident sticker, and then use it as a guest permit? (except for the part about having the license number on them, which has been pointed out above)

[m00n.livejournal.com]

If you *did* have a driveway, why would you bother paying for a permit, and even if you did, what's wrong with occasionally using it to park another car in the space that the permit entitles you to?

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

If you *did* have a driveway, why would you bother paying for a permit?

So that I can park elsewhere in Somerville if I need to. So that if someone visits for a week, I can park on the street and they can park in my spot.

what's wrong with occasionally using it to park another car in the space that the permit entitles you to?

Presumably the city would say that the permit doesn't entitle me to one space for any car, but one space for a particular car. I don't claim that that's the friendliest policy they could have, but I think it's the one they *do* have.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

If I had a driveway I might pay for a permit so that when I had guests I could park on the street and let them park in the driveway.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

ding!

this has been helpful to us :)

[kalimba21.livejournal.com]

I'll be curious to hear what happens.

These permits are _so_ difficult to remove, that this year I covered my whole permit with clear tape, only leaving 3 edges sticky to adhere to my windshield. On close inspection one can tell, but I was assured by my friends that it would be okay. haha.

When they were on the rear window, I left them as a status symbol of sorts; in front they take up too much visual real estate. It took me an hour to remove last year's sticker, and a few pieces still remain.

[leko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they are obnoxiously difficult to remove. Other cities I've lived in have had static stickers, and those seem perfectly reasonable. I mean, they only cost $10 for a year, so it doesn't seem like there is much incentive to share.

The trick to removing the current stickers though is heat. I hit mine with a heat gun and get it nice and hot, and then it peels off fairly easily. Of course it usually rips into strips, but that's still a lot easier than chipping off the plastic part and then goo goneing the adhesive.

[dashford.livejournal.com]

I use tacky spray (like the stuff on Post-it notes) to affix the permit to the windshield, after covering the "permanent" adhesive with cellophane. Easy peasy.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

I just take the opportunity to bring my car in to the car wash for a yearly detail. Whatever they use there seems to be able to easily remove old stickers.

sticker removal

[tlaad.livejournal.com]

There's a trick that they don't tell you to remove the permit stickers: use a razor blade to scrape it off. This works for me and my somerville permit/front windshield combination.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I wish you the best of luck with your appeal........
P.S. - bring a check for $90.00 with you to save another trip!
(To remove my old sticker I use a hairdryer and/or a razor blade. Not easy to do in February when everything's frozen!)