Idiotic Parking Ordinance

It's after three o'clock in the morning, and I just got back in from moving my car from the street to the driveway.

I went out into a 67 degree rain to move the car so as not to risk a ticket for violating the winter (November 1 to April 30) ban on overnight on-street parking (Sec. 19-174(b)). The purpose of the rule is to ensure that streets are clear in the event of an overnight snow.

It's 67 degrees out. I can state with moral certainty that it is not going to snow tonight and that it has been clear that there was absolutely no chance of snow tonight for probably a week, but at least since this morning.

So why isn't the overnight ban lifted?

It would be oh-so-easy to put a small bricklet on the city home page that, on nights like these, says "Overnight Parking Ban Lifted." On most nights between October and May there is no risk of snow. Not a small risk. Not a modest risk. No risk whatsoever.

Given 21st Century meteoroligical technology, we can identify those nights with great accuracy. When he knows there isn't even a remote chance of snow, the Commissioner of Public Works ought to be able to lift the ban and let the townsfolk know on the city home page.

If there's even a slight chance of snow, don't lift the ban. We'd still probably get more than 50% of our nights back.

I recognize that advocating for parking is inconsistent with orthodox better-neighborhood traffic policy. It's after three o'clock in the morning. I'll try to resolve the inconsistency another day.

Sixty-seven degrees out and I had to move my car to keep the street clear in case they need to plow.