"Fine Mess": Pittsburgh residents ticketed for parking in their own driveways
(CBS) PITTSBURGH - Parking in Pittsburgh? Even if you live there, you could get fined for keeping your car in your own driveway.
According to CBS Pittsburgh, City Councilman Corey O'Connor says it's happened on two city streets - and thanks to an old law still on the books, it could happen anywhere in the Steel City.
"This could happen tomorrow to any resident of the city of Pittsburgh," said O'Connor.
"We're no longer allowed to use our driveway to park, because of a law that says you have to park at least 30 feet away from the street," said Eileen Freedman, who says she recently got a warning letter from the Bureau of Building Inspection.
"This is where I've been parking for over 18 years," said Eileen Freedman, as she pointed at the driveway to her home in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
She says she can't park 30 feet from the street because the space between her home and one next door is just too narrow.
A pregnant mother of seven who lives across the street says she can't get out of the driver's side of her van anymore. She has to crawl out of the passenger's side when she parks the vehicle between her home and her neighbor's.
"It's a pretty ridiculous problem, actually," City Councilman O'Connor told CBS Pittsburgh.
The councilman says there's actually two parts to the problem. First, the little-known "30-foot back" law, which he says originated in the '50s or '60s.
"If you're a couple feet into your own personal driveway, there shouldn't be a problem," said O'Connor.
But he also says that technically you can be ticketed, "because you have to have what is called an occupancy permit. The funny thing about that is, we don't tell you need an occupancy permit."
He says one family ended up paying a $2,400 fine.
O'Connor told the station he wants get any recent driveway parking tickets voided, and wants the City Council to consider getting rid of the occupancy permit rule for existing driveways, and changing the 30-foot rule to a much smaller distance.