Public Service Announcement

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

I originally posted this in my journal, then realised it should probably go in this community as well. Sorry those who have to read it twice.


Street Cleaning in Somerville has resumed! I was wondering why everyone on my street was getting towed the other day, and then saw the cleaner go by several times, making sure he was giving the street a good scrubbing.

The Good News: This means even the city believes it will not snow anymore.

The Bad News: The city will tow your ass! Given the "fiscal crisis" Somerville is charging the maximum allowed by the state for towing, which is $75 for the tow, and $20 for storage. Plus whatever ticket you get too, for obstrucing the street cleaner, which is I think $25.

So make note of when street cleaning is in your Ward, and move your car! If you happen to get towed, give me a call and I'll drive you to Pat's to pick up your cah.


The city has said they are going to be vigorous about towing this year because too many people have complained about dirty streets. They know people will complain about towing too, but at least this way they get clean streets AND money for the coffers. The city receives $15 for each car towed (I think Pat's gets the rest) which goes into a general fund for the city. The Mayors spokesman said that the "fees were set with teyes for the fiscal crisis".

Conversely, Cambridge who also has a contract with Pat's, only gets $7 per car, presumably because the fees are $60 for towing and $10 for storage. Still, I don't know why Pat's gets to make it so well on this deal. They're evil bastards! Going in to get a car feels like invading a mafia stronghold. (who knows--that could well be the case).

Cambridge also has instituted a "reverse 911 call-back system" in which residents in certain areas recieve phone calls to remind them that street cleaning season is resuming again. I seem to also remember the cops going around at 7am will bull horns saying 'street cleaning! move ya cahs!". I was awake on Tuesday morning when all the cars on my street got towed; I saw the cops writing tickets and putting in the towing orders, but I heard no bull horns. Guess they're not being nice in Somerville this year: Last year they ticketed and put a nice orange flyer on the windshield as a gentle reminder that street cleaning was starting again.

Curiously, if you get towed in Arlington (which is not as heavy handed with the police ordered towing), you still get charged $95 total, but the city gets none of it: Mal's Towing scores all. Same goes for Medford, which HAS said it will be stricter this year because of all the winter sand.

Everett Chief of Police says they do not go out on a normal basis to tow cars, just ticket those blocking sweepers. If you do, it's $75, and the town keeps $25 of that.

In Boston, no shocker, you get towed for so much as blinking at a fire hydrant wrong. I'm not sure this info is right, but the Journal says there is a $12 tow fee and a $15/day storage fee in Boston. But I think they tow your car to Quincy! hahaha. ahem.


Who cleans the sidewalks? Do they have little dohickeys that go down the sidewalks?

There ends more than you ever needed to know about towing fees.

Comments

[frederic.livejournal.com]

My problem with the towing is that it targets those who chose to walk or take public transportation to work instead of driving and it targets those who are not rich enough to afford a private parking space or own property with a driveway and/or garage.

It's sad that the town barely gets any money for this. Those towing people are arrogant bastards (I've luckily never had my car towed but I've gone with friends who have)...

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

Exactly! After we had that really bad snow storm this winter (i know, how specific of me) I saw a cop ticketing a bunch of cars that looked legally parked. I looked at one of the tickets and it said something like 'failure to move car within 48 hours' citing the unshoveled plow line as evidence the car hadn't been moved in at least a week. I was flabbergasted. The next day when I saw the traffic cop I asked him about this and he said that 10 years ago the Aldermen passed an ordinance stating you had to move your car every 2 days, particularly in crowded neighborhoods, because it was unfair to those who drove to work. blinkblink. Hello--we're encouraging and protecting those who use cars to commute? You'd think it would be the other way around--if it's this hard to find a spot, people will take the T instead. That's not penalising, just encouraging people to use the system. It makes no sense to me, with Davis being so T accessible. It's like giving people who drive an SUV a tax break on gas because it's not fair they have to pay more at the pump.

The cop told me that they usually can't enforce the ordinance cause you can't really tell; it's only when neighbors complain of cars never being moved, or during really big snows when they can tell. After that I thought I heard a rumour that the Aldermen might change the ordinance to 4 days or a week?

I don't always mind weird laws or high fines, as long as there's no spin doctoring involved. I'd be much happier with the politicians if they just said 'sorry, we need the money'. I understood when they raised guest permits from $1 to $5, because that's not unreasonable, and they didn't try and hide why they did it behind rhetoric.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I received a parking ticket for exactly that reason, and, after spending a fair bit of time searching through the 100+ pages of the Somerville Traffic and Parking Regulations but finding no mention of that rule, sent in my appeal asking them to tell me where this law was documented. I have not yet received a response, though I have no idea what the usual schedule is for this sort of thing.

When I picked up my new sticker & permits, I noticed a small flyer in the parking office that noted the 48-hour rule, but that text is not in the ST&P document. It is possible I missed it, of course, and if so, I'll pay, but I still think it's a pretty stupid rule.

ah yes, the infamous 48-hour rule...

[freyja.livejournal.com]

i was a victim of this sort of ticket too, and i found some interesting information... such as, for instance, that this "ordinance" is not on the books as a 48-hour law, but as a 24-hour law, thus making it almost completely invisible to anyone looking for it.

my housemates and i are trying to get together a petition to stop this madness :P. know anyone who would be interested in signing or helping out?

Re: ah yes, the infamous 48-hour rule...

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I noticed this myself, though it was hard for me to figure out if that was really what the document was saying as the language was confusing. According to an attorney friend, if the law says 24-hour, then if you receive a ticket for 48-hour, it can be contested on that basis alone. It really doesn't make sense, and I hope they straighten it out one way or the other.

Have you send a letter to the City Hall law office asking for clarification? That is what they suggested I do when I asked, but I figured I'd see how the ticket appeal turned out first. (See above comment.)

Re: ah yes, the infamous 48-hour rule...

[freyja.livejournal.com]

rock! you did the same thing i did then. hopefully your attorney friend is right... i'll cross my fingers for both of us :)

nah, i haven't sent anything to city hall but i probably should send a copy of my (3 page-long) appeal to a lot of higher-ups pretty soon...