LANCASTER, Pa. — It was the fourth Monday of the month, street cleaning day on the northbound side of Park Ave. in northeast Lancaster. By 2:30 p.m. parking tickets adorned the windshields of at least 12 cars.
“Frankly it’s always just kind of hard to keep track of what side of the street is getting cleaned and when and what the schedules are and all,” Craig Kazda said as he pulled a ticket out from under his windshield wiper. “So yeah, it’s just frustrating.”
The cost for forgetting street cleaning day: $25.
“I think I donate roughly two to three times a year to the city,” Kazda said.
Neighbors reported ticketed cars line the street every other week, when street cleaning is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
While many cars do illegally park during those hours, local resident Kim Thvedt said, she disagreed with unnecessary enforcement of the no-parking time period when its purpose, street cleaning, was already finished.
“They’ll continue to come around until the 3:00 timeline, and ticket everybody that moves their car back over,” Thvedt said. “It feels unfair because you’re trying to do the right thing and not get tickets all the time but it’s almost impossible.”
Several neighbors reported they had been ticketed after Park Ave. had already been cleaned by the street sweeper.
“One time I pulled in at 2:30 and went in Stubby’s because I thought, oh they must be by by now. The street cleaner must have come,” said Sharon Harris, who said she returned to her car to find a ticket.
Lancaster City officials are working to reduce these tickets. The City Council is set to vote Oct. 26 on a set of street and sidewalk ordinance changes that would let cars park as soon as the street is clean.
“One eighth of the city every day would become more available for parking,” Lancaster Department of Public Works Director Stephen Campbell said at an Oct. 12 City Council meeting.
Under the proposal, snow removal would also qualify as street cleaning.
FOX43 did reach out to the Lancaster Parking Authority for comment. Officials there said they haven’t issued more tickets than usual recently but wouldn’t disclose how many tickets they usually give.