He said he'd paid the meter until 10 p.m., after which he thought parking was free — an assumption the magistrates say is common. "That's what it says on the meter," Wyckoff said. "It says 8 a.m. to 10 p.m."
The magistrate pulled out a much-used diagram of a parking meter, complete with the stickers that attempt to explain the overnight parking rates (though they are hard to see in the dark), including a new one that Public Works added in August to help clear up the confusion.
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Public Works has added stickers to meters in an attempt to clear up confusion.
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Matt Wager and Cindy Patton of the city's Department of Public Works helped craft the overnight parking system.
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Actually, the magistrate said, the big sticker on the meter says two-hour parking is allowed between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. It also says "Overnight Parking Allowed," he explained, "but that doesn't mean it's free." He pointed to the sticker that was added in August, which is smaller than the one that says "Overnight Parking Allowed" and explains that parking costs $1 an hour until 2 a.m. and then 50 cents an hour after that.
"I see that," Wyckoff said. "That night, I didn't see that aspect of it."
The magistrate cut Wyckoff a break. In all, he owed $75 in fines: $25 for the expired meter and $50 for parking on the street-sweeping side of the street. The magistrate knocked his total down to $50. "Fair enough," Wyckoff said.
"Tomorrow's my birthday," he added, "so thanks for the early birthday gift."
As he made his way to the cashier's window, Wyckoff, a recent University of Denver graduate, opined about the circumstances that caused him to be out fifty bucks. "The big print stands out," he said, referring to the meter stickers. But "you're not going to stand on the sidewalk reading the fine print when you're trying to go get a beer."
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While Public Works officials aren't shy about acknowledging that the program has caused confusion, they say that so far, the overnight parking program has been a success. More than 115,000 hours were purchased between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. from May 1 through September 30, they report. From 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., when parking was previously prohibited, 10,433 hours were purchased, bringing the grand total to more than 125,000 hours.
"That's a higher number than we were anticipating," says Wager. "It justifies the work that went into the program, and it tells us that the stakeholder groups that were asking for it really did have a need for that choice."
To help enforce the rules, Public Works started a new overnight parking-enforcement shift in July. Now, between the hours of 11:30 p.m. and 10 a.m., four to five parking-enforcement agents (don't call them meter maids!) cruise the streets, making sure the meters are fed. According to Tina Scardina, the department's right-of-way enforcement manager, they've issued an average of 7,000 tickets per month.
And that means more revenue for the city. The 28,700 tickets issued between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. in May, June, July and August brought in $1,064,000, says Public Works spokeswoman Christine Downs. She's quick to point out, however, that not all of that money is profit. The overnight parking program has several costs, she says, including the extra parking-enforcement shift.
Still, the city wants more people to pay their meters — and not just for money-hungry reasons. "We would prefer to have their behavior modified with education, with really understanding why we're doing this," Scardina says, "whether it's looking at stickers and signs or reading the screens on the meter or seeing one of our (parking enforcement) Jeeps going around with the lights on.
"This time next year, I think we're going to see that those numbers of citations are going to drop," she adds. "It's just too early to tell."
Groups such as the Downtown Denver Partnership and LoDo District Inc. say they — and their members — are thrilled to finally have meter parking overnight. When it was proposed, "a lot of businesses and residents saw it as a great amenity," says Aylene McCallum, transportation and research manager for the DDP. "But the devil is always in the details." Some of those details continue to cause headaches, including hundred-foot rule.
The way the foot traffic comes in to the hospitality venues, patrons come in at 8 p.m. and stay for two hours and then have to move their cars. It's really inconvenient for them," says Holly Barrett, executive director of LoDo District Inc. "A lot of people have been getting tickets and complaining about that."
Public Works is keeping a close eye on the program and plans to do an in-depth analysis in early 2012, once it's been fully operational for six months. In the meantime, the department is continuing its efforts to clear up any meter misunderstandings.
In August, it added stickers explaining the prices. Now officials are distributing posters to downtown businesses and housing complexes called "Did you Feed Me? Top 3 Ticket-Free Tips." The tips include this one: "Always read the overhead signs and meter stickers for payment information and parking restrictions."
If you don't, you could end up like me.
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A few weeks after my spectacular karaoke performance and my less-than-spectacular discovery of a parking ticket in the crack of my car door, I marched down to the office of the parking magistrate, determined to give the city a piece of my mind.
