Description

On a regular basis I see parents dropping their children off at Integrated Arts Academy and unwittingly parking along the west side of Walnut Street, north of IAA. This is a No Parking zone but that is not obvious to many people.

There is one No Parking sign just outside the school, but it's on a sign post with two other signs and isn't particularly obvious (especially in all the commotion of pick-up and drop-off times). The only other No Parking sign is 300 feet north of it, at the intersection of Walnut and Willow. If you park between these two signs, you're 150 feet away from either one of them and it's very easy to overlook the signage. In Burlington, it seems that a lack of No Parking signs is an indicator that parking is free and allowed in a given area. I recently made the mistake of parking between the two signs on Walnut and received a $75 ticket. I contested the ticket and the City Attorney's office agreed that the ticket was improperly issued because of the inadequate signage, and dismissed the ticket.

It seems that more No Parking signs along the west side of Walnut Street would be helpful to resolve this. It helps parking authority by giving them an airtight case when handing out legitimate tickets, and provides those who are looking for a parking spot helpful guidance on where they can park legally and to avoid unnecessary fines.

Work was done earlier in the year to install additional No Parking signs along the west side of Spring Street between Manhattan Drive and Elmwood for the exact same reason, and the new signage there has been extremely effective in curbing illegal parking. Please consider adding additional No Parking signage along Walnut Street as well.

Thank you!