PARKatlanta Is Lose-Lose Situation for Atlanta Residents, Visitors
One Old Fourth Ward activist's take on what she sees as a predator company on motorists.
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Patch Voices: PARKatlanta
Old Fourth Ward resident Carolyn Kayne shares her experience with PARKatlanta and the potential impact such interactions have on local businesses, neighborhoods and motorists.
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PARKatlanta has claimed its fair share of victims.
On Friday, Carolyn Kayne, a singer and musician, became another one of them.
The Old Fourth Ward homeowner was picking up her bicycle at Outback Bikes in Little Five Points. The spaces in the lot behind the Euclid Avenue store were full.
She parked her Ford Explorer across the street, dashed across the street and into the store to retrieve her bike.
The process, she said, took all of two minutes. But that was enough for a PARKatlanta ticketing officer to be at her vehicle, writing a ticket even as she was loading her bike into the Ford.
The experience left Kayne, a forme U.S. Marine, feeling like a predator had just pounced on her.
She's not alone in feeling that way.
Two years into a seven-year contract, Milwaukee-based Duncan Solutions, which runs the city's parking enforcement under the PARKatlanta name, has drawn fire all over Atlanta from residents and visitors alike about its tactics.
Businesses along Euclid Avenue have complained to Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall, whose district includes their street, about how PARKatlanta's tactics have cost them customers.
In this Patch Voices editorial, Kayne, who successfully got an errant scrap metal yard operation out of her Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, explains why PARKatlanta is bad for motorists, bad for business and bad for the city as a whole.
Fourth ward
8:51 am on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
rules are rules and most abuse them that's why companies like this exist.
ChadK
9:33 am on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Looks like something needs to be done about graffiti in that area too. That box looks disgusting.
Tammy
10:19 am on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Somebody needs to watch Parking Wars. ParkAtlanta is mild compared to that.
S4m
11:03 am on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
How come she couldn't put a dollar into the meter?
Péralte Paul
3:12 pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Hey, S4m: we sat and watched person after person go up to the meter boxes and fiddle around with the directions. It's not as self-evident as it would appear.
S4m
11:08 am on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
What if there was a way to use recyclables to pay for meters. As in, if I wanted to park in that spot for 5 minutes, I could put 50 cents worth of bottles, cans, etc in there. City of ATL or ParkATL could cash them out in some way.
I know - easier said than done. But a way to kill two birds with one stone.
Kirkwood Resident
1:17 pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The problem is, you are asking the meter person to make a judgement call. You said you parked there for a few minutes. I am sure everyone says that. When you allow them to make judgement calls then you open it up to bias and prejudice. Why let this person go and not that person? Unfortunatley this lady was unlucky with her timing because there is no way parkatlanta has meter people just standing around waiting for a person to park and run in so they can ticket them. They patrol in cycles, so she must have parked right when they were patroling through that area. They don't know if she was there for 5 minutes or 20 minutes. All they know is that if the meter says it is expired then you get a ticket. Go to any large urban city and see how long it takes for you to get a ticket when you don't pay to park.
Péralte Paul
3:11 pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Maybe the answer is to have loading/unloading zones which allow folks to conduct business without having to feed the meter for an hour's worth of time just for a few minutes?
Kirkwood Resident
5:10 pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Interesting idea. Issue is everyone would just park there and fill it up. You also then get in an arguing match with a person who would say they just parked there and had not been there for X amount of time. In some cities the parking rates even flucuate based on demand. The less spaces, the higher the cost of street parking.
Fourth ward
6:07 pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The sad truth about loading zones. Most people are inconsiderate.
PLD
8:00 am on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Let's see...she parked in a meter space, did not pay, left her car. It doesn't matter that is was "Just a few minutes" - the signs do NOT say "a few minutes free" - she parked and did not pay. But in this "someone elses fault" world, Park Atlanta caused the problem. I read a lot about Park Atlanta - but it seems that those who complain all parked illegally then complain when they are ticketed.
Bob T.
8:50 am on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
You continue to hear complaints about the parking situation,and the company who is running it, but nothing happens........................just keeps on going.....and, they are raking in the money at our expense.
Erin
1:02 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
^ exactly!
skullcap
1:31 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012
It wouldn't feel so bad when a ParkAtlanta predator sits waiting at the curb for paid tickets to expire, if the revenue were mostly benefiting the City of Atlanta, instead of an out-of-state private enterprise. It makes parking enforcement less about maintaining civil services and public works, and more about the enrichment of politically-connected opportunists. The ParkAtlanta and General Growth Properties contracts with the city are a nod to Bill Campbell's style of cronyism.