Parking fines rile up Sandpoint residents
LEE HUGHES/Hagadone News Network | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 4 months AGO
SANDPOINT - Parking fines can get people riled up. Especially if it's unclear what the fine structure is and how it works.
That was case at the Sandpoint City Council Wednesday during the public forum portion of the meeting when a constituent told the council, absent Councilmen Bill Atiken and Bob Camp, what he thought of the current parking fine structure.
"Holy mother, what is going on here?" Ben Tate, owner of Finan McDonald Clothing Company, said. "I can just see some lady getting her hair done and then going out for lunch with the girls, then coming back and getting a $50 fine for coming to Sandpoint."
Tate was also curious how the city's parking enforcement contractor, Diamond Parking, was paid, and whether there was an incentive for them to focus on the city parking lot between Oak and Cedar streets along Third Avenue downtown.
"Does Diamond make money off the city lot? Or do they make money off the street?" he asked the council.
Tate suggested to the council that parking fines be reduced, and the time limit be increased to 3 hours.
Mayor Carrie Logan clarified that fees had been set by the council after a public hearing, and not by Diamond Parking. Diamond, she said "was just enforcing what council approved."
City treasurer Shannon Syth also clarified that Diamond Parking, by contract, is paid a flat rate for its services.
"They not making money off of one versus the other," Syth said. "They make a flat rate, a contract amount for doing the parking lot, and a contract amount for doing the streets."
The amount is higher for enforcing street parking than the city lot. The revenue from fines collected, she said, comes directly to the city. The city pays Diamond Parking monthly the flat rate its owed.
She also noted the tiered nature of the parking fine structure.
It's not just standalone, ticket-by-ticket system, but instead is graduated: even after the first parking fine is paid, the second ticket reflects the first. It's a you-should-have-known-better system that adds a higher fine to subsequent tickets, increasing with each to a maximum of $100 after the sixth violation.
Tate wasn't convinced.
"This is no way to compete in a retail environment," Tate responded. "We've got more empty spaces downtown."
He said he would do what he could to see a change made in the city parking code.
Outside chambers, Tate said he felt the focus of the code was to get people that abuse downtown parking to move their cars. But that was on the street, he said, not the city parking lot.
"They probably should get fined if they know who the people are," he said, but not people shopping downtown who use the city parking lot. "That's a Seattle crisis."
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