Heavy snows lead to flurry of tickets

Brad Redington went to bed at 8 p.m. one evening in December, shortly before Christmas. He woke up hours later to go to his first-shift job at Woodward Governor and was surprised to see 3 inches of snow on the ground.

When he cleared off his car's windshield, he got another surprise: a parking ticket under his windshield wiper.

At 12:45 a.m., he was caught in the city's enforcement of the snow law, which regulates on which side of the street cars can be parked in a snow emergency.

"Who's driving around at 12:45 in the morning giving out tickets?" he said. "That's when crime's the highest, and they're giving out tickets."

Redington received one of the 2,085 snow-ordinance violations issued this winter.

On average, 173 tickets were issued in each of the city's 12 snow emergencies, during which residents must park on either the even or odd side of the street to match the date of the month.

The city's Public Works Department explained the law on its Web site and through local media, but Tim Hanson, the interim director, said more education might be necessary next winter. City data show 807 tickets were written in December, but only 308 in January. February, however, was the worst month of the season, with 970 tickets issued.

Although Hanson said the department put more emphasis on enforcing the law this year, the numbers are largely attributed to the sheer number of snowfalls. Rockford had its snowiest winter ever, clocking in more than 63 inches of snow from Dec. 1 to Feb. 29.

"I think (by February) they were sick and tired of the snow and said, 'Look, I'm not going to move my car anymore,'" Hanson said.

The city stands to reap more than $100,000 from the $50 tickets, but Hanson isn't gleeful about the financial windfall. He wants the enforcement to change residents' behavior, not bring in dollars.

"Next year, when we throw this out again, they'll remember it and we'll be in good shape," he said.

Why tickets?

Hanson said the snow ordinance is on the books to create a path down every street that can be plowed.

"A lot of people think they're going to move their car to the right side, then we're going to come back down the street and get the other side," he said. "We're not going to come back. We're going to make sure you can get out and go where you need to go."

In past years, police officers were solely responsible for finding scofflaws of the snow ordinance. This year, Hanson told plow drivers to call in block numbers where cars are violating the law. Street Department personnel wrote them down, then faxed the list to the Police Department, which issued the tickets.

Several neighbors, however, said they hadn't seen a single car ticketed on their street despite owners not following the policy.

"I think it's a hit-or-miss thing," Garfield Avenue resident Tom Gilkey said. "I think police officers are kind of busy, so they get around and drive the streets and try to spot the cars the plows have gone around, but they can't catch everything."

Hanson acknowledged that the police can't ticket all the cars before a snow emergency ends, usually about a day after the snow began. And because of the sheer numbers involved, he said, towing isn't feasible.

Other municipalities in the Rock River Valley have similar laws. Loves Park bans street parking all together when at least 2 inches of snow fall.

Police Chief Patrick Carrigan said 246 snow violations were issued in 2007, up from 98 in 2006.

"I think the majority of citizens just simply cope with it," he said. "We always have our pockets of malcontents who go against the system."

No excuses

Hanson said since tickets started getting issued, he's heard about every story in the book from wayward parkers.

"They didn't know, they didn't understand it. I've heard about every excuse there was," he said. "I understand what they're saying. I'm not out there to try and give them pain, but it's the matter that you have an ordinance and you have to follow it."

South Third Street resident Mitzi Gerber got a ticket in December. She's one of the few on her block without a driveway, and her car broke down during one of the first big snows.

"I was upset for the fact that I had nowhere else to put it," she said. "With all the snowfall, I couldn't get it pushed anywhere. ... I just accepted it and moved on. It's hard to fight things nowadays, and I don't have the money to fight it."

A rarefied few get their tickets dismissed, but only with excellent backup. Edward Hammonds got one nixed because his citation showed he was parked on the odd side of Meriday Lane on an odd-numbered day.

He was upset he got the ticket, but glad it was an easy matter to get it dismissed.

"There were days they never ticketed on that street, but they chose that day to come out," he said. "I know a lot of people didn't follow the ordinance at all."

Sean F. Driscoll can be reached at (815) 987-1410 or sdriscoll@rrstar.com.