Change proposed for appealing parking tickets in Mt. Lebanon
A public hearing is scheduled during Mt. Lebanon Commission’s Nov. 13 meeting to address a proposed change to the process for appealing parking tickets.
Appeals now go through the office of District Judge Blaise Larotonda, but a new ordinance would establish a new system involving the Mt. Lebanon Traffic Board along with the municipal parking enforcement supervisor.
Under the current system, the supervisor fields appeals, and according to the municipal website: “If your initial appeal is denied, you may appeal the charged violation by appearing at district court within the next 10 days.”
The proposed revision would send the appeal to the traffic board, rather than the district justice, as the next step.
“This is an alternate process that can be designed in accordance with local agency law that gives the alleged violator the due process to which they’re entitled,” solicitor Philip Weis said during the Oct. 9 discussion session preceding the commission’s regular meeting. With regard to the district justice’s involvement, he noted: “It isn’t considered a productive use of time.”
A recent computer software upgrade allows for people who receive tickets to register appeals online, at mtlebanon.rmcpay.com.
“I can approve the appeal, and at that point the ticket is resolved and there is no payment,” parking enforcement supervisor Mark Quealy told commissioners. A new release of the requisite software can allow access to all relevant information by members of the traffic board, he said.
Lt. Mark Rayburg, the police department’s liaison to traffic board, explained that parking violators initially receive “courtesy” tickets.
“If they do not respond to those tickets within 30 days, we initiate criminal proceedings through a summary traffic citation, or a non-traffic citation if it would be an ordinance such as no parking between 2 and 6 a.m.,” he said. “Once that is issued, that would go in front of the district magistrate.”
Further action would be a summary appeal through the Allegheny County court system.
The public hearing on the proposed ordinance will take place after the next traffic board meeting, scheduled for Nov. 7, during which the issue is to be discussed further.
Duties of the board include making recommendations to the commission to improve traffic conditions, receiving and investigating requests pertaining to traffic and parking, reviewing traffic regulations and controls, and working with consultants to prepare traffic studies.