Students will not be ticketed for illegal apron parking in North Village, officials said Monday.
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has suspended ticketing for apron parking after protests from students and intervention from councilmember Paul Koretz’s office.
Last week, all cars parked perpendicularly to the street and blocking part of the sidewalk received warning notifications that the LADOT would begin to ticket apron parking.
City spokesman Bruce Gilman said he is unsure of what caused this wave of tickets, but he has been informed by officials that until further notice no tickets would be given out.
Councilmember Koretz’s office has asked the LADOT not to ticket until at least after the end of the quarter, said representative Paul Neuman.
“We wanted to do what we can to ensure that students do not suffer a potentially significant disturbance during the last, most significant part of their quarter,” Neuman said. “Having to find parking threatens their ability to show up on time to class or to a final.”
Some students said although they don’t agree with the incentive to ticket apron-parked cars, beginning later will allow time for students to make other arrangements.
“People can plan for it now,” said fourth-year geography student Corey Rovzar. “If students are aware of it, there are other garages where you can get a spot.”
Urban planning professor Donald Shoup, who has been one of the most vocal proponents for enforcing apron parking laws, also said it is important for the city to push back the tickets until later in the summer.
Shoup has written letters to the councilmember’s office stating that apron parking, which blocks the sidewalk, is dangerous to disabled pedestrians who cannot get past them.
Over the weekend, however, Shoup emailed the councilmember to urge him to postpone the ticketing until the middle of summer.
“It’s a terrible idea to start (ticketing) right now,” he said. “They’ve ignored the problem for about 10 years, and suddenly to spring it on people is unfair.”
Giving advance notice may make some students reconsider where they are living to ensure off-street parking, thus making some apartments available for students without cars, Shoup said.
However, because many students have already confirmed their apartment leases for next year, changing to an apartment that has garage parking may not be feasible, said Omeed Alipour, a third-year biology student.
“It’s definitely more inconvenient without apron parking, but there are plans students can make to evaluate if they actually need a car,” Alipour said.
It is uncertain when the law will begin to be enforced. Neuman said that in the long term, the city wants to work with the school administration to plan alternative parking places to avoid the problem.