The city has cracked down on its casual enforcement of a law
prohibiting vehicles from blocking the sidewalk because of a
complaint that the North Village is inaccessible to
wheelchairs.
The complaint was filed with the city’s Department of
Transportation, Western Parking Enforcement (the agency responsible
for issuing tickets) and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Based on figures available Wednesday, 111 cars in the UCLA area
have been cited for the violation since Feb. 12, when the city
began enforcing the law more strictly. Only 82 had been given
tickets during the period from Feb. 1 to 11.
According to the vehicle code, vehicles may not be stopped or
parked in a location where they extend over the sidewalk.
Many North Village residents were surprised last week to find
their cars ticketed for violating this law ““ a common
infraction in a neighborhood known for stack parking ““
especially because they said they hadn’t been cited in the
past.
“Our position is that we’ve always enforced
it,” said Capt. Frank Maldonado of Western Parking
Enforcement.
Maldonado said 125 warning cards were distributed to vehicles in
violation of the code for eight days before Feb. 12.
Maldonado said his agency informed Karen Henderson-Winge,
assistant coordinator of UCLA’s Americans with Disabilities
Act Compliance office, about the complaint. Henderson-Winge could
not be reached for comment Wednesday.