Overnight parking: Have you gotten a late-night parking ticket downtown? Tell us about it!

By Melanie Asmar Thu., Oct. 13 2011 at 3:29 PM

Categories: News

In this week's cover story, "Feed Me," I tell my totally true, slightly embarrassing story of getting a late-night parking ticket in LoDo. What started as a joyful night of karaoke glory ended with an angry little yellow envelope, thanks to new city parking rules. And I know I'm not alone. Now, I'd like to hear your stories of attempted overnight parking gone awry.

Here's an excerpt of my story:

When the karaoke began that warm June evening, I'd already been guzzling cold cans of Avery Brewing's White Rascal, which was completely unnecessary, because despite my inability to carry a tune, I will do karaoke stone-cold sober. Luckily for my audience that night, "Ice Ice Baby" requires no actual singing, but it does force you to rap the lines "Quick to the point, to the point, no fakin'/Cookin' MCs like a pound of bacon."
The crowd was eating it up and I was on a roll, bobbing my head like a badass between verses. When I finished, there was a rainstorm of high-fives from the people I'd come with, all of whom are apparently fans of grown-ass women singing novelty rap songs. Or maybe they were just being polite -- it was hard to tell.

A couple hours and at least one more song later, I paid my tab and called my fiancé (whom, incidentally, I had wooed two years earlier, on our first date, with a karaoke rendition of '90s R&B trio Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison"). Owing to my mass consumption of White Rascals and his good-hearted nature, he offered to meet me at the bar and drive my car home.

When I finally pushed through the throngs of adoring fans and out onto the Larimer Street sidewalk, I was greeted by a horrific sight. Wedged in the crack between the doors of my car, which I'd parked three hours earlier at a metered spot in front of the bar, was a bright-yellow envelope. I'd gotten an effing parking ticket.

Has this happened to you? Leave your story in the comments section below. Next week, we'll choose the best ones and publish them in a separate blog post. Misery loves company.

Tags:

LoDo, overnight parking, parking tickets

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ldantiques

Xerox owns denver parking violations... your not paying the city.. your paying xerox

Rico

I got mine Wed night. I read the meter, and it isn't that clear you need to pay after 10pm. Guess what, I won't come to Denver anymore. Nice job helping the businesses.

Gusto_avenue

Not downtown but I'm in the City Park area. 2 weeks ago, I parked on the street in front of my house. I was 2 feet away from past my driveway apron and recieved a $25 ticket for not parking at least 5 feet from the driveway apron. Has parking enforcement been to Cap Hill lately or any other Denver neighborhood?....The ticket was issued at 2:38 AM..... geeze... really

Michael Thompson

The spots that are purposely confusing are the ones that say "2 Hour Parking 6 AM - 10PM; Overnight Parking Available". Now, most reasonable people would assume that overnight parking is free, because most "2 Hour Parking 6 AM - 10PM" spots are in fact free overnight. But, such is not the case with these tricky devils. I appeared in front of the parking magistrate to fight it, and he had a worn-out Xerox of the sign that he whipped out as fast as an Old West sharp-shooter drawing his pistol - as if he'd done it a million times. As he smugly pointed out the fine print he said "yeah, there's been a lot of confusion on these so I'll knock $10 off your fee." Oh, thanks. You're admitting it's confusing but you're not going to do anything about it. Why? Easy revenue stream. F you Denver parking.

Matt de Caussin

Not exactly downtown, but...A couple of weeks ago myself and others were towed from next door to the Walnut Room, in front of Denver Sanitary Co. The towing company was gluing signs up to the building after the fact. Is was one of the more crooked and sheisty experiences I have ever had in Denver. It cost me $262.00 to get my car out of hawk.

Michael Roberts

Ouch! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Sarah

This happened to me, back in September. I'm from Nebraska, and was doing an unpaid summer internship in Denver for a local non-profit [read: contributing to the local economy without benefits, outside of the internship]. My aunt was in town, so we decided to go out to eat. I parked at a metered spot, but didn't bother looking at the times it was in operation; after all, it was 8 pm on a Friday night. My aunt and I returned to my vehicle after dinner, and noticed the parking ticket. I looked down the street to see if anyone else had received a ticket; sure enough, three-fourths of the cars lining the street had a yellow envelope.

I wrote a letter to the City of Denver, requesting the fine be waved - seeing as I was from out-of-town and ignorant of the new law. I also noted in my letter that if a visitor receives a parking ticket in Nebraska, most cities/towns will forgive the first offense out of hospitality. I received a letter in return, noting the fine would be reduced from $25 to $15. I realize I received the ticket because of my own ignorance, but I've honestly never heard of any city handing out parking tickets so late at night! I suppose it's easy money for the city.

Bill

The city was doing a "nice thing" by allowing overnight parking. This from a city that is notorious for its many speed traps and crooked cops who beat up anyone who they want to. So their "nice thing" shouldn't come as a shock since it lines the city's coffers.