THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501170143
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANE HARPER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Ever have trouble finding a metered parking space downtown?
A new law that went into effect in Norfolk in October should make it easier to get one but has managed to irritate disabled downtown workers in the meantime.
The law, passed by the state in July and later adopted by Norfolk City Council, prohibits handicapped people from parking in the metered spaces for more than four hours.
Intended to free up more spaces, the law has unleashed angry protest from some of the handicapped who have been parking there while they worked.
Before the law went into effect, disabled employees could park for free at metered spots as long as they wanted. Now those same workers still can park for free, but they have to move their cars every four hours if they want to park on the street. Violators are fined $10.
``It's not easy for them to get out and move their cars every four hours, especially in the rain and snow,'' said Al Edwards, whose wife Sandra was ticketed for parking too long in a metered spot outside her downtown office building. ``It seemed like an injustice to these folks.''
Edwards, who has been disabled since having his right leg amputated 15 years ago, said his wife was parking curbside while temporarily disabled due to back problems. Edwards said that she and others like her were parking in the metered spaces because there is limited handicapped parking downtown and because many times their doctors advise them to park close.
The problem, according to the police and city officials, was that the people coming into downtown to do business - including other handicapped people - couldn't park curbside because the metered parking was being used all day by handicapped employees.
``The purpose of allowing handicapped people special provisions to park is to give them access,'' said Maj. Curtis Todd of the Norfolk Police Department. ``If one handicapped person parks there all day long, then other handicapped people are denied access, and it defeats the purpose.
``(The law is) not intended to create a hardship for handicapped people - it's intended to create a turnover so other handicapped people can park there. Metered parking is meant to be temporary parking.''
Police put leaflets explaining the new law on cars with handicapped placards in the window before they began enforcing it. They got numerous complaints at first, but the numbers have dwindled, said Capt. Robert Towe, supervisor of the Norfolk Police Department's parking unit.
Disabled downtown workers can get special parking places in the city's parking garages, but the workers have to pay for them if their employer doesn't, said Norfolk Parking Administrator Linda C. Davis. The fees can range from $30 to $72 a month.
KEYWORDS: HANDICAPPED PARKING DISABLED by CNB