By Steven Symes 
Homeowners in certain San Diego neighborhoods are reportedly getting ticketed for parking in their own driveway. It sounds like a bizarre thing for the city to do, but once you learn the bizarre reason for the multiple $80 citations issued to only some homeowners and not others, and the city’s unwillingness to do anything about it, the whole situation makes even less sense.
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The problem, as detailed out in an NBC 7 report, is that some people live in old military housing built in the 1950s. Certain homes have shorter driveways that fit cars back in the day but just barely won’t accommodate many modern rides.
That means homeowners who park in their own driveway might encroach on the sidewalk by a few inches. That in turn counts as violating pedestrians’ rights and so the city fines the homeowner for “obstructing” the sidewalk even though someone could easily walk down the sidewalk.
Of course this is happening in California – it just makes sense. Everyone has their rights rigorously protected, except when the government sees it can extract money from them, like homeowners who just happen to have shorter driveways.
What’s even better is the city of San Diego now has a snitching app called “Get It Done” that allows people to report their neighbors for parking so any part of the sidewalk is obstructed, even if it’s just by an inch or two.
Laird Tucker, city of San Diego senior parking enforcement supervisor, told NBC 7 “the department completely understands the situation these residents are in, and in talking to them, I understand the frustration that they have. It’s taking away a parking spot they relied on, but as a department, our hands are tied.”
If that sounds like the usual bureaucratic way of ducking responsibility, that’s because it is. Nobody’s responsible for anything, people are just doing their jobs, and citizens need to just cough up money on demand so the city can in turn spend it on whatever – what a great deal!
Image via NBC 7