Saturday, May 23, 2009

Reserved - but not for you

I wish I knew the law regarding parking on private property because I think there's some commercial property owners getting away with some selfish parking rules. I'm talking about off-road parking lots in strip mall / strip office type commercial buildings, where there are spots signed as 'reserved for' the owners / employees / clients of a particular business in that strip mall / strip office. I understand the need for a few designated spots for the handicapped, but
reserving spots for owners / workers / customers is kinda pushing the limits of reason. I recall one time some colleagues of mine arrived at a strip commercial space and the driver purposely ignored the 'reserved for [insert name of business]' sign and parked in the empty spot. Within 10 seconds, someone came out of the office and scolded the driver that they had better move before the police were called. The driver stood fast and basically said, "go ahead". The parking Nazi for the property found the driver within minutes and after a short discussion, seemed to back down after a suggestion from the driver that there was actually no way to enforce the 'designated parking' rule without involving both the tenant and the property owner - which is fairly difficult to arrange under most circumstances. So the vehicle stayed put over lunch.

The more I think about it though, the more I wonder how fair it is to designate parking for anyone (handicapped not included), when quite often I see designated spots sit empty most of the day while customers scramble for the few remaining spots in a parking lot. Readers - your thoughts?

2 comments:

Goddess of Madness said...

If it's something they are being charged for in their lease I understand them being upset. My big pet peeve is there are spots in some parking lots for pregnant mums or families with small children. And as a mum of a small child and presently being pregnant I love these spots. I know they aren't enforceable but when I'm hugely pregnant and trying to wrangle a small child I appreciate these spots. I don't appreciate the skinny twit in her lululemon tracksuit and starbucks coffee taking the spot when walking the the length of a the parking lot is not difficult for them.

Retro Blog said...

Here in Oregon the handicapped parking is no longer enforced by the police, it is up to the building owners to prosecute, enforce etc. First come, first serve I say. And your are healthy, at least LIMP away from the handicapped spot, okay?