Police to enforce citations for parking too long in 30-minute zones

(Originally published in the 2/18/16 edition)

   After Friday, if you park in front of a downtown business for too long, you could be receiving a ticket. 

   The Benicia Police Department has begun a campaign to seriously enforce citations against people who park in front of designated 30-minute zones, which are identified by a green painted curb. According to Lt. Scott Przekurat, the police department had been receiving complaints from business owners about people parking in front of their stores for too long. 

   “Some of the businesses have been complaining about people parking in front of their establishments for long periods of time,” he said. “They’re concerned that that may keep people from shopping in their businesses because of limited parking.”

   According to Przekurat, there are about eighteen 30-minute parking zones on First Street which have been there for years, but the Police Department generally has never enforced them. However, after receiving an influx of complaints, the department has decided to seriously impose the parking laws. For a two week period that began on Monday, Feb. 8 and will run until Friday, Feb. 19, the department has been placing warning notices on vehicles that park in the designated spaces for longer than 30 minutes to determine how many drivers have been violating this rule. Following this Friday, the violations will be enforced for people who park excessively in the green zones. 

   Przekurat says the department will try to enforce the citations as much as possible, but he said it will largely depend on the availability of staff.

   “We don’t have anybody to just enforce that parking,” he said. “It will be on a case by case as resources allow. If we have staff to mark the tires on these cars starting next week and they’re still there after 30 minutes, then we’ll issue citations.” 

   If cars park in the green zones for too long, the drivers will receive written citations and receive an as of yet undetermined fine. 

   “We’re hoping residents will comply with the law,” Przekurat said. 

   For more information, contact the Police Department at (707) 745-3411.