Residents in Skies West are frustrated after receiving tickets for their vehicles blocking sidewalks while parked in private driveways. The problem, people say, is that their driveways are too short.
“I park my truck in the garage every time, and it just barely fits in the garage. There’s hardly any room for our vehicles as it is,” Skies West neighborhood resident Jeromey Hoover told KRQE.
Reports made to the city from mid-September through October show pickup trucks parked in driveways but extending into the sidewalk. The City of Albuquerque’s Parking Enforcement Department has issued several citations, costing drivers $30 each, according to KRQE.
Hoover said he tries to fit his pickup in his garage but does leave it in the driveway while working between job sites. Some neighbors with smaller pickups barely fit into their driveways, and other midsize cars extend into the sidewalk.
“You can see a regular SUV just barely fits in the driveway, so a truck is not going to fit in the driveway, a truck is not going to fit in the driveway at all,” Hoover said.
Residents called the citations unfair. “I would fight it for sure that we have no room; there is nothing we could do,” Hoover said. “I mean, if they tell me that I have to park it on the street or I have to park it in the garage, that’s one thing, but I would definitely go try to figure it out because we just don’t have enough room.”
Albuquerque’s Department of Municipal Development, which oversees Parking Enforcement, isn’t very sympathetic. Though the Inspector General is taking a look at the matter, officials said. At the same time, while the driveways may be too short to accommodate many types of vehicles, drivers are still subject to a citation for obstructing the sidewalks.