So who hasn't had this experience: you've parked downtown, prepare to exit your vehicle but first pause briefly to glance at the Warner marquee. "Ah. Brian Regan. He's kinda funny." You get out of your car, turn around to lock the doors and there it is: a bright orange citation grinning back at you, mockingly. "Welcome to Torrington!", it proudly declares.
I remember when I first moved here, I had parked downtown - unaware of the bloodsport that is parking enforcement in Torrington. I had danced the usual dance you would in any city: feed the meter as per your needed allotment of time, note your required return and hurry back to your car, [sometimes] shaving a minute or two past your meter's expiration. You accept the risk and consequences inherent with such tardiness, but usually have the odds in your favor as a meter attendent cannot be in all places at once...
Or can they?
Enter Torrington's merciless meter maid. At the time, I had briefly parked downtown with my hazards on, halfway onto a parking space that was taken up by a car that had parked midway into two spaces. I had to bring my wife her phone, as she was late to work and had forgotten it earlier. I ran in and ran out, making eye contact on the sidewalk with the dreaded meter maid who was across the street. Naturally, one gets the instinct to flee upon the sight of this particular city employee, so I dashed to my car and made my escape. Gleefull that I had
legitimately avoided a seemingly inevitable parking ticket, I still glanced in my rearview, expecting maybe a fist shake or two in my general direction. Instead, what I saw gave me pause for concern, as the meter maid had stopped in the middle of the crosswalk, furiously scribbling something onto her curious pad of paper, her face in a knot as I drove away...
Weeks later, I received a call from my college roommate, hundreds of miles away. He seemed amused as he recounted the details of a certain citation that had arrived at the door of our former house (my plates were still out of state). "They wrote you a parking ticket and you drove away?!" No one served me with a parking ticket. First come, first serve. You get to my car first, I get the ticket. If I drive away before you get to me, having parked for maybe 46 seconds, then you have not properly presented me with a ticket and, more importantly,
don't stand in the middle of the street, a lousy parking ticket is not worth your safety!Now, I don't really care about that. It's just a silly story to emphasize the overzealous efforts of Torrington's parking enforcement. But I hear it's gotten worse now that we have a new maid on the beat. Even downtown business owners are getting spanked by this tireless crusade, being ticketed on the spot for double-parking deliveries. This is craziness. How is a business supposed to function without it's materials? Why not provide some sort of downtown sticker for business owners, so that they don't get ticketed when the meter maid repels from the roof to catch them in the act? Rotary members have these sorts of permits, why not businesses, who bring in far more economic activity than the paltry proceeds of parking infractions? Torrington should nurture it's businesses, not fine them over technicalities in the case of everyday necessities like deliveries or drop offs. I'm not saying there should be a free-for-all parking situation for business owners, or for visitors, but something needs to change...
Sample minutes from a parking ticket appeals comittee. Ticketing people assisting the handicapped? Salvation army employees? Harsh.
So this is my opinion, of course. But it was interesting to see
an editorial in the Register Citizen, entitled "Parking Enforcement has to Change", which essentially sums up that these policies should be business-focused, but not business-impartial. Hmm. Well I'm not sure that many 'shop owners' camp out on the street everyday, as one 'amused' comment suggests, but there needs to be a way to encourage
business, and not punish visitors for shopping in downtown Torrington.
"... the $200,000 the city generates in parking tickets each year pales in comparison to the amount of money local businesses bring in for Torrington."
One individual's comment points out:
" The only thing that has to change is the topic of your editorials!! I am getting bored reading day after day you complaining about the parking meters being enforced. Did you get a ticket you are upset about? It is cheap to park downtown, we should all be thankful we have parking enforced so we don't have abandoned cars and commuters blocking up the streets. How about you pick a new topic? There are many other things to write on these days. maybe an editorial on the war, mothers day, the state budget? "Which... is a good point, to an extent, with the exception of Mother's Day (sorry Mom), but I think it's important to address local issues, no matter how frivolous some people may find them to be. There
are editorials on war and the economy. And while war may be a bit more complicated to hash out in the local rag, we can address Torrington's economy by nurturing our downtown's development, and find a way to reward people who do just that.
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