Norwalk Parking Ticket NW01998776 APPEAL

PHOTOS OF ANN STREET AND DETAILS BELOW

Clearly, by your “NO PARKING HERE TO CORNER”sign, my car was not parked in a no parking zone. It was parked
two car lengths before your sign, and there is no other sign by Archie Moore’s that says anything about parking restrictions.

$50.00 Norwalk Parking Violation Ticket Number NW01998776 was issued to my car Saturday 3/27/2010,
at 08:58:18 PM by Badge No. SC25, at Ann Street, Norwalk, on the side of Archie Moore’s.

COPY OF LETTER:

Friday, April 2, 2010

Dear Norwalk Parking Authority,

I am writing to appeal a $50.00 parking ticket I wrongly received the evening of Saturday, March 27, 2010 outside Archie Moore’s restaurant on Ann Street. The ticket number is NW01998776. The issuer of the ticket is badge number SC25. My car is a red 1998 Chevy Malibu 4-door with CT license plate 904 XDY.

At 8:46 PM I arrived at Archie Moore's Restaurant, 77 North Main Street, to perform there as a guitar player/singer. With the front of my car facing North Main Street, I parked my car on Ann Street, by the side door to Archie Moore's, two car lengths before the Ann Street sign that says "No Parking Here to Corner" -- that sign is close to the traffic light that is situated at the intersection of Ann Street and North Main Street, and that sign clearly informed me that it is OK to park before the sign, (by the side door to Archie Moore's) but not beyond the sign -- that is, not close to the intersection of North Main Street where Ann Street gets narrower. Your sign clearly told me this. There is no other sign on Ann Street on the side of Archie Moore's that tells anything about parking conditions, except for the "No Parking Here to Corner" sign, so I should not have gotten any ticket. However, at 8:54:18 PM, a parking violation was issued to my car while I was carrying musical equipment into Archie Moore’s. The violation stated that my car was parked in a no parking zone on Ann Street. Workers at Archie Moore's can vouch for where my car was parked on Ann Street, as my car was clearly visible by the side door of Archie Moore's from within the restaurant. As a local performer and an astute driver who obeys city parking laws, I was simply being part of a local business’s evening activity that night, legally parking my car on Ann Street as instructed by your sign, yet I was ticketed.

But here is where it gets really interesting. I still can’t believe what I heard when I called the Norwalk Parking Authority about this parking ticket and spoke to someone named Jackie who told me there is no parking allowed anywhere on Ann Street. I replied to her, “But your ‘No Parking Here to Corner’ sign on Ann Street CLEARLY tells all drivers that it is perfectly OK to park by Archie Moore’s before that sign, just don’t park beyond the sign.” But Jackie said, no, that sign is there to tell people not to park beyond the sign, but drivers are supposed to know to not park before the sign also. I’m still shaking my head in disbelief. There is no other sign on Ann Street on the side of Archie Moore's that tells anything about parking conditions. So how could I know that you at the Norwalk Parking Authority hold an idea in your heads different from what your sign on Ann Street says? I have to tell you, that if you want drivers to know that you want there to be no parking on Ann Street on the side of Archie Moore’s, then *** you need to change the sign outside Archie Moore’s *** to tell drivers something to the effect of “NO PARKING ANY TIME.” Don’t keep the “No Parking Here to Corner” sign on Ann Street and then ticket drivers who park there believing what the sign tells them, and then when they call you about the ticket, you tell them that you don’t think it matters what your Ann Street sign says to drivers. That is utterly crazy. It is gross negligence and outrageous harassment on your part. Your sign clearly states your instructions to drivers about parking on Ann Street! Your sign says it is OK to park there as long as a driver doesn’t park beyond the sign! I followed your sign’s instructions. Yet I was ticketed.

View the webpage at this link
https://kmcker1.tripod.com/nwlk/nw0199877.htm

to see photographs of Ann Street, identifying how my car was parked before the “No Parking Here to Corner” sign, not beyond it.

Under these circumstances, I am therefore asking that you please rescind the ticket that I was wrongly given.

And please, change the sign on Ann Street.

Thank you.

Kevin M

P.S. I notified the Norwalk Police Department about a suspicious incident that I will describe here: Firstly, could you please instruct your parking attendants to IDENTIFY THEMSELVES as Norwalk Parking Authority attendants when they approach a driver? I believe I may have talked to one of your attendants before he gave me the ticket, but since he did not know enough to identify himself as a Norwalk Parking Authority attendant, I had no clue as to who he was when he, a total stranger, approached me and first asked me the strange question, “Is this your car?” and then twice asked me “Do you need help?” (carrying musical equipment into Archie Moore’s) So I told him, “Yes it’s my car,” and I twice told him, “No, I don’t need any help, thanks.” Because of his strange remarks, I was not openly receptive to him since I thought he was possibly a deranged loiterer who was harassing people on Ann Street with weird comments, or maybe someone who might have a malicious interest in my car and the musical and audio equipment in it. Had he identified himself as a Norwalk Parking Attendant, this entire incident could have been avoided, as I immediately would have talked to him about my car’s parking location. What’s more, however, is that I found it quite alarming when, a few moments after he had first approached me, I saw the same African-American man in the big light-blue hooded winter coat seemingly tampering with my car’s wiper blade. Again, I still had no idea he was a parking attendant. I yelled to him, “Hey what are you doing at my car?” – get this – he ran away from me! – down Ann Street, toward the water, and he disappeared into the dark. When I got to my car I found that he had given me a parking ticket. Since his running away from me when confronted was quite suspicious behavior, a little while later at 9:30 PM on March 27^th I notified Norwalk police officer Policastro about this strange incident, and I also informed the officer that cars are being wrongly ticketed outside Archie Moore’s, according the sign on Ann Street. Officer Policastro noted what I told him and said he would look for the man in the big blue winter coat. Now I’m notifying you of this suspicious incident so you can address it, as a parking attendant running away when in the act of ticketing a car is quite bizarre, and you can also address the need for attendants to identify themselves, which as I said, could have prevented this whole problem. But all in all, maybe a good result will come out of it, because now you are aware that the sign outside Archie Moore’s must be changed. Thanks again.