BrianGarst.com

Washington D.C. tickets people for parking in their own driveways:

D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) says he’s been getting lots of complaints.

“For the first time in anyone’s memory,” Wells says. “People are starting to get ticketed in their own driveways. This is ridiculous and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

…So what does the law say?

“Any area between the property line and the building restriction line shall be considered as private property set aside and treated as public space under the care and maintenance of the property owner.”

Basically what that means is most property owners in the District don’t own the land between their front door and the sidewalk, but they are responsible for taking care of it. It’s why you can get a ticket for drinking beer on your front porch in the Nation’s Capital. You’re technically on public space. It’s also why the city can ticket you for parking in your own driveway if you don’t pull your car deep enough into the driveway beyond the façade of your house or building.

To be clear, we’re not talking about people who park in shallow driveways and let the rear of their cars block the sidewalk. The cars are off the road, off the sidewalk and in the driveway – just not far enough back for the city.

“This is ludicrous,” Anderson says, “We were three feet away from the sidewalk. People have parked here for thirty years.”

When Anderson complained to a supervisor at DPW she was told that she could lease the property from the District and avoid future tickets. Anderson, who uses the house as a place of business to see clients and regularly has several cars in her large three car driveway, scoffs at that idea. “The city is not going to extort money out of me,” she says.

What a town.

Governments Gone Wild Washington D.C.