So true this has been reported BUT as You can see NOTHING has been done . SAD We want our city to have clean friendly parks etc, Yet we allow homeless to live in a car/van in the main area of the downtown (some state we don know all the fact she is paying) if you think that true, she has money for that is she not money less and could get a room mate and share a room! Be safer and she have a roof more than a van . Some thing should be done and done this week!! wait and see, If some people think this is okay give a place off street to park in a lot etc, Yes I agree several things in the square need to change , Loud musuc/littier/ people asking for money as you walk across it, I see it daily, I walk to work,

Get this lady the heck out of there!

I refuse to walk through Moore Square when I work downtown. It's all homeless people and it's scary. Imagine what an out-of-towner feels like and thinks of Raleigh. sad

I've lived a block from Moore Square for over 10 years and it has gone down hill over the years. It's obvious to me that the city has given up and are pumping all their efforts into Glenwood South and the Warehouse district. Do you think a homeless woman living in a van would be tolerated in those areas? Nope - it would be towed very quick.

Today she had 2 large bag of trash sitting beside it? O well WHAT can be done !! Tow it!! One day she be on the news for a not so good thing! Their is NO reason this should happen here in the middle of downtown Raleigh!!

Even worse, she is a seller of stuff/ lighters, chips , junk etc. but does she have a license? And does the city allow that? If I wanted to park somewhere every day I would have to pay anf I thought the city had ordininnce for hoouw long anyway. If the city had adopted the no smoking ordinance that other parks now have we wouldn't even have this problem, All the smolking folks hanging around waiting for food and the shelter would not be there and the park could once again be a pleasant place to go. Having the Kids Museum and the School right on the park means that many visitors and families are wanting to walk to those places or away from when they've enjoyed them, instead constantly I hear that the Park is something that turns them off. Sadly the horse carriage business that used to drive around the park moved away to the other section of town because the crowd on that side of the park couldn't be trusted to act well and behave decently, only takes a few to make a problem. The police are over there all the time but cannot keep fights from starting. The bus area is a mess as well. I think the plan to spend $$ re-doing Moore Square is nuts, a bathroom and a cofee kiosk in the middle of this? NO WAY. A solution for the sides needs to be found. Perhaps Raleigh Rescue Mission needs to be somewhere else, I am sorry if this seems unkind, but I am tired of crime stress wrecking my commute and my city...

This is being referred to the Raleigh Police Department - Downtown District. An update will be posted when they have responded. Thanks.

City of Raleigh ... This has been referred to the Raleigh Police Department - Downtown District multiple times and nothing happens. Is it possible to refer to the City Manager's office or possibly the Mayor's office??

Perhaps the City of Raleigh could actually provide some commentary this time about what is being done about the issue...
Their response on 2/18/13 for the similar posting promised an update, but none has been provided.

http://seeclickfix.com/issues/413502

Our RPD officers have been working with this person for some time now. They are balancing her safety and the need to conform to all laws. She is legally parked as long as she feeds the meter properly, as she has a valid NC handicap placard, which allows parking without restriction but does not exempt the vehicle owner from paying the normal parking rates. Our concern is parking overnight and we are working with her to move her vehicle to a proper parking place on private property at night. There are a number of complicated issues here and the officers are doing their best to balance the many concerns here with the need also not to be vindictive or unfair. We will continue to work on this and on the larger issues in this part of downtown. It is not an easy or quick resolution, I'm afraid.

Our RPD officers have been working with this person for some time now. They are balancing her safety and the need to conform to all laws. She is legally parked as long as she feeds the meter properly, as she has a valid NC handicap placard, which allows parking without restriction but does not exempt the vehicle owner from paying the normal parking rates. Our concern is parking overnight and we are working with her to move her vehicle to a proper parking place on private property at night. There are a number of complicated issues here and the officers are doing their best to balance the many concerns here with the need also not to be vindictive or unfair. We will continue to work on this and on the larger issues in this part of downtown. It is not an easy or quick resolution, I'm afraid.

According to the City of Raleigh website, you are not allowed to "feed the meter" to stay in the same parking spot for extended time. This is from the website:

May I re-feed the parking meter or pay station?

No. Meters are intended for short-term parking up to the maximum time posted. If there is any chance that your visit could exceed the maximum time allowed you should park in a deck or a parking lot which provides for unlimited time.

Can this be leverage to get this vehicle out of Moore Square?

http://www.raleighnc.gov/business/content/PWksParkingMgmt/Articles/ParkingFactsFaqs.html#jmp7

Oops. Didn't mean to reopen

Absolutely absurd. I don't know of any other NC city that would continue to allow this.

On election day there were long long lines and it took a lot of time to vote. I saw parking meter attendents ticketing many cars, which seemed totally wrong! including one with a handicapped woman waiting for help. The police officer i spoke to ( he was voting) said point blank, it was illegal to feed the meters for anyone, even if they were stuck in court or jury duty or voting . Didn't matter if there were no other parking options. Speaking of ops , maybe that van is a special ops surveilance van, with an undercover homeless lookimg cop ? And are you homeless if you live in an RV ? just cheap rent. surprized more people don't try this, soon there might be moore.

This issue has been in the News and Observer before. The woman is homeless and disabled. She pays the meter and has a vendors permit. Reportedly, she's an asset to police. While considered a nuisance by some, she's a citizen, she's within the law, and she's not causing any trouble.
Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/06/23/546852/mama-pays-rent-every-2-hours.html

North Carolina Law: "Any vehicle that is driven by or is transporting a person who is handicapped and that displays a distinguishing license plate, a removable windshield placard, or a temporary removable windshield placard may be parked for unlimited periods in parking zones restricted as to the length of time parking is permitted."
Source: http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_20/GS_20-37.6.pdf

I live downtown and yes - people are living in their cars in the area. They go to Moore Square and the Shepherd's Table to eat. Some of them have been reported on SCL by people who want that parking space. Bottom line, there are homeless people living in cars all over Raleigh. Is there a way to offer them safety and sanitation facilities? If i was homeless, a car would be a much better place to live than under a bush or under the thumb of some of the Do-gooders.

I don care who or why it is wrong.She is not paying the meter It need to be off the street in a parking lot etc. If she has that much money to pay the meter she could be sharing a room ! We need to clean up this park!!

WOW with all the school kids come just this past week at least 10-12 group came to the square , I guess they got a wake up call to what the downtown is really like .From elem. age to middle school sad they had to share their lunch time in the park with all the beggers. Maybe some day one or more will be the adult tat does something about a true clean up and families can enjoy a clean safe park !

HOW about a REAL social net? You all complain about vagrants etc. but don't want to do anything except run them out of town or arrest them. WWJD, certainly none of those things. The fault is a non existent social net and people who don't give a dam*, as long as they don't have to look at it. Not in our back yard.

How this BLIGHT will be solved: A bunch of people COMPLAINING to the REPUBLICAN state government DEMANDING they pass a LAW OUTLAWING LIVING / SLEEPING IN VEHICLES not designed for camping (similar to the law on the books in VA that outlaws sleeping in passenger type vehicles)

Yes they were having a party st the van this afternoon > good place to hang out FREE Food etc all thanks to Nice helpful people ! NOT we really need this cleaned up!

and your point is ? nobody here has gone rogue or vigilante and is it wrong to ask for community help from the government we pay taxes to? Can you offer your front yard and facilities for free and support some folks? I didn't think so. Moore square is a public park for all ... that means that no one group should influence the experience of a visitor. No one gets to live there. That is true of parks everywhere, longtime rule established for fairness. If a kid wanted to sell lemonade on Person St. everyday they would not be allowed to. America is the land of liberty not libertarian rule last I looked, the rules apply to all. No one is looking to grow more government, just use what has been in place for the rest of us and have some accountability. People have asked for action and the response has been to evade, and give answers that don't pass... No wonder this is a forum of frustration that dissolves into ugly backbiting. SCF was purported to be a way to get attention to critical issues. What has been eliminated is responsible name on the line accountability. It is lousey to have an issue "Closed..." by someone who has no business doing so before anything has been done to FIX the problem... so tha's right another post on this stupid list. real world, get with it not just over it.

This is a duplicate of http://seeclickfix.com/issues/413502 . Closing this issue.