Parking forum driving change
Here’s how the Allentown Parking Authority could address a slew of resident complaints
On the heels of its first evening “parking forum,” the Allentown Parking Authority is making a series of changes in response to increased complaints about the agency.
The authority board met Wednesday afternoon and passed a series of recommended changes both to its internal policies and city laws.
The authority has come under increased scrutiny since January, when it implemented 24/7 parking enforcement after hiring enough officers to work all hours of the day. The increased enforcement has prompted dozens of Allentown residents to complain at board and City Council meetings about what they see as targeted and unnecessary ticketing.
Last week Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, with the unanimous support of City Council, authorized $20,000 for a “legal and policy” analysis of the city’s parking authority. Tuerk said the authority’s “unchecked power” and pursuit of revenue at the expense of Allentown’s residents prompted the city to step in.
Here’s how parking in Allentown could change:
Ordinance changes
The Allentown Parking Authority board made a series of recommendations to change the city’s parking-related ordinances. Those include:
■ Increasing the maximum distance that a car can legally be from the curb from 6 inches to 9 inches.
■ Allowing residents to park in alleys less than 20 feet wide, as long as there remains a 12-foot passage for traffic and the car is not parked on the sidewalk.
■ Allowing impounded vehicles to be released either after the owner has paid all of their parking tickets or is in compliance with a payment plan imposed by a judge.
■ Removing all references to “prison” or “imprisonment” in city ordinances.
Zeller said that although it is not the parking authority’s “responsibility” to propose legislative changes, the board is doing so in response to the increased complaints.
“We’ve got parking professionals that run our authority, so we’re trying to do what’s right by the citizens and at least try to make changes,” Zeller said. “I understand this is just the beginning of the journey on this.”
Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach
thanked the board for recommending the removal of the words “prison” or “imprisonment” from city ordinances. It’s something she has advocated for as a council member for more than a year.
“I’m confident now that we … can get this on the table,” Gerlach said.
The board does not itself have the power to change city laws, so the recommendations will be passed onto City Council for consideration. Board Vice President and Council member Santo Napoli said he hopes to have the proposals in front of City Council “as soon as possible,” though he could not give an exact timeline.
Internal policy changes
The parking authority board is also making changes to its internal policies, some of which will go into effect in the next few weeks or are ongoing.
Here are some of those measures:
■ Amending its policy on vehicle inspections. For the first 30 days after a vehicle’s inspection has expired, parking authority officers will issue just warnings instead of a ticket with a fine attached.
■ Beta testing a new software that will alert officers if a vehicle has already been ticketed for a certain violation in the last 15 days.
■ Purchasing “warning sirens” for officers to use when someone is doubleparked but still in their vehicle, allowing the driver to move before being issued a ticket.
■ Amending its policy on expired registration. Residents who receive a ticket for expired registration can appeal their ticket to the authority within five days; if they are able to show proof of up-to-date registration, they can have the ticket overturned.
These changes will address some of common resident complaints, including receiving multiple tickets for the same offense within one day or several days. Zeller said that the parking authority’s enforcement has become “too efficient,” which has caused excessive ticketing.
The changes also appear to address an issue raised by Allentown resident Melissa Rogers, who said she received more than 40 tickets in six months for having an expired inspection sticker on her car.
Other considerations
The board also discussed several other measures to address parking issues in the city.
Napoli suggested the parking authority launch a payment plan to allow poor residents of the city to pay parking tickets incrementally if they cannot afford the expense.
Currently, residents can use a payment plan but must go through district court to do so, which is a separate process.
“That reduces the burden on some of our residents,” Napoli said. “We don’t want them to be in a position where they have to make a decision on what to pay.”
Board members also suggested the city take inventory of all of the city’s parking signage — that responsibility lies with the city’s streets department, not the parking authority — and take stock of where signs needs to be added or replaced.
Zeller floated the idea of revisiting the parking authority’s 24-hour enforcement, which has been the subject of many resident complaints. Former Mayor Ray O’Connell in 2019 asked the parking authority to begin handling parking enforcement overnight to free time for Allentown police working overnight shifts, Zeller said.
But it took the parking authority three years to hire enough officers for overnight parking enforcement, and it came as a surprise to many Allentown residents who recently began receiving parking tickets issued in the wee hours of the morning.
Now, the parking authority might reverse course and end 24/7 parking enforcement. But it’s something the authority will discuss in detail during executive session, which is closed to the public, although any official action the board takes will be made public.
“We’ve got people with jobs that are working in the middle of the night, so that’s going to be a budgetary and a labor thing, that I think is appropriate for executive discussion,” Zeller said.
Public reactions
Members of the public who attended Wednesday’s meetings thanked board members for their efforts, while indicating that more needed to be done.
The parking board allowed members of the public to interject and ask questions throughout the meeting, breaking from government meeting norms.
Victor Martinez, owner of La Mega Radio Station, said many of the parking authority’s problems come down to its own officers not showing grace when dealing with the public.
“A lot of these problems could be solved by just having your officers, I guess, trained better, on public relations, customer service,” Martinez said.