A DRIVER was enraged after finding a ticket on the window of her car, which was parked in her own driveway.
The woman was in her East Columbus, Ohio, home when she noticed she was fined for the first time in 25 years of living in the neighborhood.
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“Are you kidding me?” Carolyn Harper-Munnerlyn told NBC affiliate WCMH.
“Columbus Police came after us because the part of the sidewalk that comes across our driveway was covered. Mine, partially.”
Harper-Munnerlyn said several of her neighbors were also hit with $55 parking tickets for their vehicles partially covering the sidewalk; when she tried to fight the fine, it went up.
Despite the violation, the Columbus woman doesn’t believe she did anything wrong.
“I did not violate any personal safety. What did I do wrong?” she asked.
Columbus Police Sgt. James Fuqua told WCMH that even the bumper of her car sticking out violates the city’s parking laws.
“Basically, even just that extension of her bumper being out between her driveway and getting out of it, in between the sidewalk, is what, what the issue was,” said Fuqua.
The specific ordinance states, “No person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle except when necessary to avoid conflict with any other traffic or to comply with the directions of a police officer or a traffic control device in any of the following places, which include a sidewalk.”
The only exception to the Chapter 2151 of the Columbus Code of Ordinance is on Sundays.
“On Sundays,” said Harper-Munerlyn. “If there’s no posted ordinance that says ‘No Parking,’ you can park.”
However, that exception doesn’t apply to Harper-Munerlyn’s case.
“The Sunday and holiday exception is one of those amendments that we have, but those are typically for parking meters or the newfound city zone streets where you have to have parking permits to be there,” said Fuqua.
“For this particular citation, that the Sunday exception does not apply.”
Harper-Munerlyn was originally issued her $55 ticket, but appealed it with the city.
What parking law was violated?
The Chapter 2151 of the Columbus Code of Ordinance states, “No person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle except when necessary to avoid conflict with any other traffic or to comply with the directions of a police officer or a traffic control device in any of the following places, which include a sidewalk.”
While there’s normally an exception to this rule on Sundays, that was not the case for the Ohio woman.
“The Sunday and holiday exception is one of those amendments that we have, but those are typically for parking meters or the newfound city zone streets where you have to have parking permits to be there,” said Sgt. Fuqua.
“For this particular citation, that the Sunday exception does not apply.”
After appealing it, she was shocked that her ticket went up, making it $70.
The $15 price increase shocked even Sgt. Fuqua.
“Wow, I really don’t know,” he said when WCMH asked him about the reasoning behind the price hike.
“That’s something, I would love to find out myself.”
Law enforcement may issue the ticket, but the city decides how much it is for. Harper-Munerlyn wants clarification on the rules so she never has to deal with a $70 ticket again.
“You as the citizen have the power and the ability and the influence to get with local leaders who have the actual ability to have the statutes changed,” said Sgt. Fuqua.
