Feeding the meter won’t help you avoid a parking ticket Downtown anymore, thanks to a change in Houston parking regulations that passed City Council yesterday:
Drivers who stay beyond the posted limit will get a ticket, even if they have paid for additional time or have bought the all-day “Downtown Hopper” pass. The stricter ordinance also includes a provision making it clear that no one else can feed the meter for you.
How they gonna catch you? By tracking your license plate. The fine for overstaying coin-bought welcomes? $25.
The new rules are set to go into effect after a 1-month “grace period.”
- Time’s up for ‘feeding meters’ in downtown [Houston Chronicle]
Photo: Flickr user wandayuen2001
Well, this is stupid.
This confirms why I only enter downtown when I have too.
I’ll gladly hang out at places near downtown, but not in it.
FWIW, In other towns the cops come by and mark your tire with chalk then come back two hours later and if the car is still there with the mark in the same place they give you a ticket. When i lived in Corpus Christi and worked down town we went out side every few hours and wiped the chalk off, some times they would get tricky and put the chalk mark in secret places. fortunately i had a window view and could see where they placed it. Some time we also parked back a few feet then moved the car forward or back to move the chalk mark ….
If they mark my car, I would get pictures and have my insurance go after the municipality.
This sounds like a regulation that will rarely be enforced. kjb434: you complain about everything. Dont worry be happy.
KWYZ
I complain about idiotic government waste and pointless ordinances.
Oh, and I’m not worried. I avoid downtown at all cost unless I have to be there. It’s much less of a problem to go out and enjoy myself in areas just outside of downtown.
Sounds like kbg needs to get out to the big city more. Try parking in NYC or Chicago or Seattle. Makes downtown Houston look like a big free parking lot. Oh, and they mark your tires with CHALK in real cities, not sure what your insurance would think about that. Geez.
I’ve been to all those cities you mentioned and more and enjoyed my visit. I just don’t ever want to live there.
I’ll gladly pay to park in downtown for my occasional visits than use the streets on my personal dime.
No I do go to downtown quite often during daylight hours for business reasons, but again I park in garages because I get reimbursed.
To me, this is just glaring example of a city trying to increase revenues. If the city enforced it’s existing laws, it would do exactly what this ordinance claim it does.