ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Allentown Parking Authority's board of directors approved an internal policy change Wednesday that will significantly rein in the agency’s active patrol efforts.
Board members cut patrol hours more than 46%, ending active enforcement of parking ordinances from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday-Saturday each week.
- Allentown Parking Authority board cut the agency’s hours, ending active parking patrols from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. six days per week
- There will be no active patrol hours Sunday under the changes the board approved Wednesday
- That means enforcers now will patrol 90 hours per week, rather than 168
There will be no patrol hours Sunday under the changes the board unanimously approved by a voice vote Wednesday.
Parking enforcers have patrolled around the clock, seven days a week, with 11 employees for each eight-hour shift of the day.
The internal policy change the board unanimously approved by a voice vote Wednesday means enforcers now will patrol 90 hours per week, rather than 168.
The parking authority still will maintain an around-the-clock dispatch presence, board Chairman Ted Zeller said.
Enforcers will respond to public-safety issues and residents’ complaints overnight, but will no longer actively search for violations during off hours.
Enforcers also will write tickets for “critical safety violations” they see while responding to dispatch calls, Zeller said.
Those violations include parking in front of fire hydrants, blocking streets, double-parking and parking near corners or no-parking signs.
Allentown Parking Authority enforcers also still will be active during events, but patrols will end soon after the events, Zeller said.
Potential ordinance changes
Allentown City Council is scheduled to hold a special meeting Wednesday to consider changing the city’s parking ordinances to address residents’ concerns.
At the council’s previous meeting April 13, member Ed Zucal suggested slashing Allentown Parking Authority’s hours even further — limiting active enforcement to just 57 hours per week — but he later changed his proposal to match the agency’s proposed internal policy changes.
Zucal’s proposal was met with resistance from council President Daryl Hendricks, who said it would be unnecessary and “unwise” to place too many limits on the parking authority’s authority.
Hendricks also sits on the Allentown Parking Authority board. He voted Wednesday to approve the agency’s new active-patrol hours.
City Council is expected to discuss several other ordinance changes, including letting residents park in some alleys; releasing vehicles after owners set up payment plans; and increasing the distance cars can park from the curb without being ticketed.
Members also will consider removing all references to prison as a potential punishment for failing to pay parking tickets.
The Vehicles and Traffic chapter of the Allentown City Code lists imprisonment as a potential consequence for 11 different violations, though only if citations are not paid.
The maximum jail sentence for almost all violations is 10 days, but residents could be sentenced to serve up to 90 days for not paying tickets related to abandoned vehicles, according to the city’s code.
Tickets in food distribution line
The parking authority again found itself at the center of an uproar over the weekend after enforcers were seen ticketing vehicles as they waited to enter a food distribution event in a church's parking lot.
Pastor Alejandro Escamilla filmed the enforcers following a line of cars and writing citations Saturday outside Fuente de Vida Church at 729 St. John St.
Escamilla posted the video on social media, calling the Allentown Parking Authority’s actions “abuse.”
“I think the parking authority could do a better job of helping these community groups execute their mission."Santo Napoli, Allentown Parking Authority board member and Allentown City Council member
Zeller told LehighValleyNews.com that all of the tickets issued Saturday near the food bank distribution event were reduced to warnings.
He said enforcers responded after a neighbor complained the street was “completely blocked.”
Mayor Matt Tuerk said in a statement Monday he was “disappointed to see the poor decision making and discretion exercised by the Allentown Parking Authority” on Saturday.
Tuerk pressured the agency’s board to “take action to improve the service provided to our residents” as early as Wednesday’s meeting.
“If this continued abuse of power is not addressed and action is not taken, I will be forced to use my powers as mayor to encourage responsible management of the Allentown Parking Authority,” he said.
Santo Napoli, who sits on the agency’s board and the Allentown City Council, called the incident "eye-opening."
He said Wednesday the agency needs to work with, and not against, nonprofits “that are trying to do good things for our residents and our citizens.”
“I think the parking authority could do a better job of helping these community groups execute their mission,” he said.
John Morgan, executive director of the Allentown Parking Authority, said Wednesday he is going to meet with Escamilla soon to talk about hosting future food-distribution events at the agency’s lot on Seventh Street.
