City Looking To Waive Citations For Parking In Your Own Driveway
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- On Hobart Street in Squirrel Hill, parking is hard to come by, but some lucky ones have a driveway that allows residents to get their car off the street.
That is until recently, as Jeff Freedman found out.
"Evidently here in Pittsburgh, you're not allowed to use your driveway for parking your car in front of your own house, as do millions of Americans across the nation," Freedman told KDKA political editor Jon Delano.
Freedman was one of those cited by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Building Inspection for parking his car on a driveway within 30 feet of the street.
He's not alone.
"Since they took us out of the driveway, we can't find parking anymore," laments David Dvir, a neighbor on Hobart.
It's making residential street parking even more of a headache.
Here's the problem.
In Pittsburgh, many driveways allow you enough space to get the car off the street, but then becomes so narrow that you can hardly fit two people, let alone a car.
John Jennings is the acting chief of the Bureau of Building Inspection that issued the citations, following a complaint in the neighborhood.
Delano: "Why can't you park on your own driveway?"
Jennings: "It's an old law -- an old ordinance in the books."
Councilman Corey O'Connor wants to change a law that he says affects thousands.
"If you point to any street in the city of Pittsburgh and Building Inspection is there right now, I'm sure they can cite a number of people for not following this ridiculous parking ordinance that we have," says O'Connor.
O'Connor is asking his colleagues to change it.
"It's an out-of-date ordinance and for us to all of a sudden start citing people is just absolutely wrong," adds O'Connor.
In the meantime, the city is attempting to walk back the citations and issue no more.
"We have too many bigger things to worry about than someone parking in a parking pad in their own yard," says Jennings.
"If it's a family and you have a couple of cars there, we're not going to come get you, unless there's a complaint," said O'Connor.
RELATED LINKS:
Some City Residents Being Fined For Parking In Their Own Driveway (9/11/13)
More Reports by Jon Delano
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