Roxborough residents ticketed for parking on snow route after plows cleared street
Roxborough residents get tickets after snowstorm
Roxborough neighbors received parking tickets for being on a snow emergency route after the storm had ended and the street was cleared, leading to frustration and plans to appeal.
PHILADELPHIA - Neighbors in Roxborough say they were ticketed for parking on a snow emergency route after the snowstorm had ended, and the streets were clear on Monday night. They even personally shoveled out parking spots in the street for their cars.
However, the city did not lift the Snow Emergency until Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. The tickets were issued the night before while it was still in effect.
Residents frustrated by post-storm parking tickets
What we know:
Several residents on Ridge Avenue say they received $89 tickets for parking on a snow emergency route after the snow had stopped and plows had cleared the street. Colin Ely said, "I just thought it was ridiculous."
Neighbors told FOX 29 they shoveled out their sidewalks and parking spots on Monday, believing it was safe to move their cars back.
Ely said, "Parking is tough and I thought let me help out the other people and move my car back to open up some spaces over there. So I dug my car ou,t moved it back and woke up to an $89 ticket for parking in a snow route that had no snow on it."
Abby Duffy said, "I was very angry, especially because I was right upstairs and I was coming down to move my car and in that 30 second window they put a ticket on my car so it was very annoying."
Jose Osorio said, "We all cleaned to keep our parking spots, so we have somewhere to park... we saw a bunch of people cleaning and just to get a ticket basically."
Chris Hodds said, "It was kind of a bummer I mean like I said two cars, two $90 tickets that’s $180 bucks that’s kind of expensive."
Brittany Hodds said, "We’ve lived here for many years. In the past, they have police cars coming up here with sirens and they’ll announce this is an emergency snow route and that had happened Sunday night to my knowledge. It did not happen last night."
A Ring surveillance video showed an officer explaining, "That’s why, somebody called that’s why we’re out here writing tickets. Somebody called that y’all were parked here." The video also showed the street was clear when the tickets were issued.
FOX 29 reached out to the City of Philadelphia who responded back with this statement:
"The Snow Emergency was lifted Tuesday morning at 6am. These residents were parked on the routes on Monday night while the Snow Emergency was still in effect. These routes must be clear when there’s a winter storm, so that snow plows and emergency vehicles like Police, Fire, and medical attendees can pass through during a winter weather event.
As defined by the City’s Snow Emergency policy:
‘Once the City declares a snow emergency, owners of vehicles and dumpsters parked along snow emergency routes must move them to alternate parking spaces until the emergency has been declared over. If you do not move your vehicle or dumpster, you may be ticketed and your vehicle or dumpster may be towed.’
If residents feel they were ticketed incorrectly they can address this through the Appeals Process."
Ely said, "It feels like going 55 in a 54 kind of ticket situation... because there’s no snow. The plowing is done. It’s been above freezing. The snow had melted."
Many neighbors say they plan to appeal the tickets and are considering joining together to strengthen their case. Ely said, "I kind of thought it was absurd." Duffy added, "If there was an emergency vehicle that needed to come in there is plenty of space for them to move in if they needed to."
Timeline:
• Monday: Neighbors shovel out sidewalks and parking spots after the snowstorm ends and plows clear the street.
• Early Tuesday: Residents wake up to find $89 tickets on their cars for parking on a snow emergency route on Monday night.
• Tuesday, 6:00 a.m.: The city officially lifts the snow emergency, more than 12 hours after tickets were issued.