Justin snapped this photo outside a Tacoma, Wash. Subway. The dueling signs test your loyalty between Subway and the city government. Since it’s doubtful a Subway has the sole authority to tow or fine your car on a public street, I assume he can go ahead and park there for the full hour if he likes.
Justin writes:
As you can see, city regulations allow one hour of street parking, while Subway (who to my knowledge does not own the space in front of the store) is trying to limit the space to Subway customers only, and for just 15 minutes. The sign looks mass-produced and I’m wondering if Subway is sending these out and trying to override municipal parking
regulations all across the nation.
Have you noticed signs like this at a Subway near you?
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Call the city and complain about it.. I bet Subway gets a nice visit.
Nah, just park there for an hour and tell them to pound sand.
That might backfire if the Subway has a contract with a towing company.
Then have the city talk to the towing company.
Sounds like a good way to get a towing company owner in prison for Grand Theft Auto.
Tacoma Municipal Code 2.05.275: “No person, firm, or corporation … shall post, paint, nail, fasten, place, or locate any card, banner, handbill, sign, poster, or advertising or notice of any kind, or cause the same to be done, on any public street or highway or upon any curbstone, lamppost, street sign, pole, hydrant, bridge, tree, or other thing situated upon any public street or highway or any publicly owned property within the City of Tacoma…”
http://cms.cityoftacoma.org/cityclerk/Files/MunicipalCode/Title02-Buildings.PDF
Tacoma is more concerned about their new parking meters. Complain, and it will probably cost you 25 cents to park for that 15 minutes…
Well..just reported it to Cindy Moore at 253-594-7897…she said she is heading there right now to talk to the manager
I have wondered the validity of those “take out only” parking spots that some restaurants do. I have not parked in them before but I doubt there is much a restaurant would do.
It depends if it’s a private parking lot. If it’s off street parking owned or administered by the store, yes, they can restrict it to take out only, or white cars only, or Red Sox fans only. If it’s parking that’s on street or owned by a municipality, then the municipal laws override.
What if the municipal law is that only Subway customers can park there?
Then the municipality would be responsible for putting up signage to that effect.
Funeral home near me puts out little signs claiming the parking spots on the public street out front.
I really don’t want to be a dick to people dealing with a death, but co-opting a public resource like that really grinds my gears.
You know what really grinds my gears? People in the 19th century. Why don’t they get with the freakin program? It’s called an automobile, folks. It’s much faster than a horse!
I can’t pass up a good quote like that.
Oh, well, it appears I’ve been fired. Well, as long as I’m no longer working here, let me tell you something: you know what really grinds my gears? YOU, AMERICA! F**K YOU!
Can’t miss a good Peter Griffin quote either.
I parked on the street next to a bank to go to the funeral home next door. The branch manager screamed at us when we returned to our vehicles that it wasn’t funeral home parking.
I didn’t know it was the manager until I called to complain.
AHHHH! He said it!!
It grinds my gears, too — and while I sympathize with those who have lost a loved one, and I’m sure there are some ethical funeral directors, the profession includes a number of shady characters who exploit families at a time of vulnerability, to milk as much profit as possible out of grief. If they can post a sign with no right to do so, I’d be inclined to put up my own sign outside their establishment: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.” — Jesus, Luke 9:60.
They may have an arrangement with the town for street permits. The city of Boston, for example, allows you to post temporary no parking signs for a move. You have to get them from the city though.
Then call or write your city/town Councillor and ask him/her to look into it. Most likely the funeral home is violating some by-law, or perhaps the home is paying for 24/7 reserved parking in front of the building. You’ll never know until you make the call.
The local Best Buy has two parking spots for “fuel-efficient vehicles only”. What’s the deal with that? They are right in front of the store, even closer than some of the handicap spaces. If the vehicle is so fuel-efficient, then surely it wouldn’t hurt for it to be driven to a space farther away from the store. And then one local grocery store has a space for expectant mothers as well as one for “mothers with children”. Those I can understand, mostly, but I don’t get the fuel-efficient vehicle spaces.
Really? I always make a point to take up those with-kids spaces. Damn breeders – bringing kids along makes it more difficult to shop for the rest of us.
I always park in the spots “for expectant mothers.” Who’s to say I’m not pregnant?
If you are pregnant then fine, go for it. But I discovered when my wife was pregnant and fell on some ice that there is a good reason not to make expectant mothers walk through parking lots (at least in the winter in Michigan). A fall, even a seemingly minor one, can cause the placenta to dislodge and the child can die.
Now, I see less reason for these spots where there is never snow and ice, since a short walk is generally fine and even good for expecting women, but if the weather is bad, don’t be a jerk and put them at risk.
I should clarify, our baby was fine, he’s now almost 2, but the fall and subsequent monitoring at the hospital scared the heck out of me and made me much understand why the parking spots might exist.
ANYONE can slip on ice and get a life-threatening brain injury.
Have you never seen a pregnant woman walk? If they are very far along, they cannot carry themselves as well as a woman who is not pregnant, leading to easier slips in icy conditions, plus the added risk of injury being caused to her unborn child. Pregnant women can’t endure the same stresses on their bodies as everyone else…that should be obvious. Or do you just hate children and people who have children? Because you certainly give off that vibe.
I hate giving people special treatment, especially when they brought their condition upon themselves.
You are truly a pig.
I’m with Alvis: pregnancy is not a disability. Obese people can’t walk well, should they get special spots? What about old people?
Yes, that would be the handicapped spot.
If it weren’t for pregnant women and “damn breeders” as you post above, you wouldn’t be here. Which may not be a bad thing. You take up that attitude with your mama?
Being s f$&@ing person- you should try it sometime.
Dude, you better not leave the house for nine months then! Seal yourself in the hermetic bubble!
Don’t worry, I look for people like you when I am going grocery shopping and I am sure to leave a nice present somewhere on your car or tires when I see you.
Sounds like you might find one of these on your car one day…
http://www.iparklikeanidiot.com/
Where they going to fit a bumper sticker on my motorcycle?
The tank.
What do they mean by fuel efficient? My 91 Stanza gets 36MPG, would that count?
My Mazda3 gets better fuel economy than many hybrids, but I can’t park it in hybrid parking.
Most of those used to be called “Compact Car Parking”. If you measure the spaces I bet that they are physically smaller than others. Since those signs were mostly ignored (yeah, my F150 truck is more compact than an F250), I guess they changed the wording.
funny, my WRX is classed as a compact car, but it sure isn’t fuel efficient.
Generally, if the plaza/development is trying to get LEED classification (green building classification) one way they can get points is to designate a certain number of spots for fuel efficient vehicles only. That’s probably the only reason it happened.
> And then one local grocery store has a space for expectant mothers as well as one for “mothers with children”
That’s awfully sexist — not the “expectant mothers” part, obviously, but do they not think fathers who take their children shopping shouldn’t enjoy the same courtesy?
Oops, it actually is “Parents With Children”. Wires got crossed in my brain there. So, yeah, fathers are allowed too.
What if I was a Grandparent or uncle or aunt, big sis, big bro, big Cuz with children…,???
I would totally park a Viper or something equally anti-efficient in one of those spots.
The local Unemployment office used to be next to a parking lot that had a “Corvette Parking Only” space.
When the shopping center was built they were probably required to give priority parking to fuel efficent vehicles. These parking space requirements are a form of mitigation for the Air Quality impacts associated with the new retail.
The idea is that giving fuel efficent vehicles priority parking would encourage there use, thereby reducing overall emmissions.
I generally view those signs as a request instead of rule, and politely respect them.
Pretty much this.
This is a request for respect which clearly a lot of people don’t have.
If they own the parking they can do that.
“I have wondered the validity of those “take out only” parking spots that some restaurants do. I have not parked in them before but I doubt there is much a restaurant would do. “
In some cities you can lease spaces in front of your premises. Some restrict it to a short time and others let you do it permanently – of course there is a fee involved.
If I was within a reasonable drive, I would park there for an hour and let the impotent Subway manager fume.
You are the kind of person that would buy a pie of pizza and then go to the local gym and eat it in front of the window.
Doesn’t sound like it. The folks at the gyms aren’t being douchen (douches? douche?), the manager at Subway is.
I don’t think it’s a douche move to have a spot close to the entrance reserved for people to go in and out of the store in a hurry.
It is when the parking area is public property, as in, not Subway’s.
So, to recap, it is always a douche move to treat public space as if it is for your own private use and no one else’s.
Well there goes my plan of using city hall for my birthday party
Just make it a flash mob birthday party. As long as you’re in and out in five minutes, you’ll be fine.
Trying to envision a traditional child’s birthday party (but with adults) and a game of “Pin the tail on the donkey” — A flash mob of dozens of blindfolded folks spinning around at City Hall. Wheeee!
If the manager were having people towed, that would be douchy. The sign’s just a request for people to be courteous to people who are just swinging by for a quick sammich to-go.
Obviously, most of the commenters here are completely unfamiliar with the concept of ‘courtesy’, they are too busy worrying about inconveniencing others for their own amusement. Now that’s douchy!
it is when the manager doesn’t have the authority to create his own parking laws on public streets.
It doesn’t make him a douche though. If you’re unable to show some common courtesy then just park there for an hour and feel all smug that you’ve won.
I guess the question then becomes: Aren’t all parking spots on the street right in front of businesses?
I mean, is this an isolated building out in the middle of nowhere? Or just one of dozens along the street? Figure a 15 foot parking space. A lot of downtown stores are about 50 feet wide. That one spot is reserved. And, so is one spot in front of the next store. And the one next to that one..
By doing a reservation like this, you would easily convert about 30% of available public parking in a downtown into private parking for specific stores..
Nah, that is cruel. I am not the guy who made some poor employee making minimum wage go out and hang that dumb sign, the manager was.
like you’ve never done that…
You drive to your Subway?
Believe it or not, there are places where Subway is not within walking distance.
I’ve seen Subways with drive throughs, also. Kind of bothers me considering the work involved in making a sandwich: I can’t see that being very fast at all.
It’s not. The Subway I worked for in college didn’t have a drive through, but they would sometimes send me to one that did. Worst idea ever.
I use to live next to one of these, they are actually pretty quick and accurate; at least mine was. It was also convenient for me because it was in a strip mall and no one really knew it was there so on days when it was really busy I would drive behind the buildings, order my food and be gone in less than 10 minutes.
I know. I live in Phoenix. Nothing is within walking distance.
What makes that weird?
Unless the parking spot in front of their establishment is on private land and they own it and maintain it, call the city have them fined.
I’m sorry, but I’d be forced to park there for the full hour, and not even go into the Subway store, just to mess with them.
Why? To be a dick? I don’t understand people who see someone trying to do something and they have to react by trying to stop it for no other reason than to prove that they can.
The manager is being an even bigger dick by trying to claim the parking spots near the store are “theirs”. No, they aren’t. Yeah it would be nice, but it would also be nice if every store could claim the street parking directly in front of their stores are reserved for their customers. Unfortunately that’s not how it works.
To park in a space longer because you disagree with it being a 15-minute spot is one thing.
To park there to mess with someone is being a dick.
Is there a difference here? The Subway manager is just setting himself up to be messed with.
I don’t know what’s up in Tacoma, but in my large and otherwise bureaucratic city, retail shop owners that depend on quick turnover can request that the city put short term parking in front of their businesses. The city will do an analysis, and if there’s a need, they’ll paint the curb green and put up signs. No need for the business owner to do something stupid like this. The owner of the coffee shop I go to did this when the building next door was being renovated, and the construction trucks were filling up all the parking all day long. She got 2 10 minute spaces within a couple of weeks, and extra patrols by the meter maids (the rest of the parking was 2 hour), and it saved her from going out of business.
I was wondering the same thing. What’s the difference? Why can’t someone disagree with it and park there to visit the coffee shop across the street, and be fully aware that the subway manager wont like it at the same time. If it’s the only spot available because people actually think they will get a ticket, then it’s too bad for the Subway manager. He doesn’t have the right to designate that a Subway spot. If there are plenty of other places to park and someone parks there, it’s still too bad, plus it’s not messing with the manager or Subway customers because there are plenty of other places to park.
How would you feel if I were to park my car directly in front of your home every night (assuming that there weren’t any legal signs indicating that I couldn’t) just because I can?
I’d say go for it! If there’s no law against it, you have the right to park in front of my house. In fact, some of my neighbors do it all the time instead of parking on their side, but since I’m not an overly uptight butthole, I don’t care!
There’s a Subway on every other block…do you really need a car to get to one?
Yes, some of us do not live in urban areas. Some of us have to actually drive to get our food.
Exactly. Thank you.
It doesn’t even matter sometimes. Even people in urban areas often have to drive to Subway because it’s just too cold, or it’s dangerous to walk alongside a very busy road to get there. And also, sometimes you’re running errands.
I live in an urban area and can only think of a couple of Subway outlets around…and I’d have to take the subway to get to them.
Do you seriouslt believe that there is a subway on every other block across the entire planet?
The Subway in the middle of the Black Se has lovely bathrooms.
I live in the urban center of a large city, and believe it or not, I’d have to drive to the closest Subway.
i live where there are no blocks. closest subway to me is about 5 miles. closest food of any kind to me is actually a farm, and it’s still driving distance.
but even when i am at work, while the subway could be considered walking distance [3/4 of a mile] i’m not physically able to walk 3/4 of a mile, nor am i adventurous enough to cross 6 lanes of traffic, including a highway off ramp, to get a sandwich
I live in a major metropolitan area, and the nearest subway is over 2 miles away. First, I hate subway, but really, who’s going to walk almost 5 miles for a sandwich? That’s a great way to lose weight, but I don’t have 2 hours for lunch every day.
fail troll………..
I see this person contribute a lot. Not a troll.
What is this walking thing you speak of? Our city blocks are so long that nobody in their right mind attempts to walk to anything. Also, the streets are really wide, so you take your life into your hands if you attempt to cross them.
For us, it’s not weather-related, it’s just that this city was not designed for walking. We drive to everything, even the gym.
Neither was mine; there aren’t even any sidewalks in half of town. Not everyone here has a car, either. And the traffic is NUTS, so walking in the street is dangerous.
Why is the OP and anyone else bitching about this? I’m a Subway customer and it would be nice to pull up and get a sub with out driving around for a spot. Subway may not “own” the space but they do pay enough in taxes from their business to justify having some help to get customers to them. The City will not complain to Subway since Subway can take their subs and go but the City can’t afford to lose the tax money they generate. Consumerist, the site to bitch and moan about petty crap. Great Site j/k.
If Subway wants to offer a parking lot for their customers, they need to develop it on their own land.
Subway isn’t the only taxpayer who “pays” for city parking spots. Everyone else who pays taxes to the city pays too. If Subway is so civic minded, then they can do what every other tax paying business does and petition the city to make the spot a 15 minute loading zone. Otherwise, it’s a city parking spot and fair game for anyone.
I’m sure the OP pays enough taxes to the city to expect decent parking.
I also have doubts about how much Subway pays for infrastructure like roads.
Maybe Subway is interested in feeding the trolls, but I’m not. Great effort, though, you had me for a minute.
There’s actually parking along the side of the adjacent street where this Subway is located, besides the fact that Subway is not the sole business in this building.
‘oh i’m a customer! i should park right in front!’ aw shaddap. us business owners hate dealing with whiny sods like you. you aren’t any more important than the guy next to you and you don’t deserve any special treatment. If he had to park a half block away, well so do you.
the city is the authority here. it’s their street and what they say goes. don’t like it? too bad.
This sort of thing has become an epidemic in Los Angeles, where restaurants with valet parking use all sorts of shady tactics in an attempt to reserve public spaces in front of their establishments for their own use.
The Los Angeles NBC affiliate did an expose about 18 months ago:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/around-town/cars/Hijacking-the-Streets.html
I think this just a clever ploy the the owners of the Subway to try and eek out extra buisiness by having a take out only spot. It’s probably not enforcable, but posting that sign isn’t illegal either. If 95% actually follow it the owner gets more buisiness, I can’t see any way some one could be directly hurt by that sign being there so its win win as more people are able to get tasty sammiches.
Business. It’s business.
Actually posting a sign on city property without their permission could be a summary offense.
Usually official signs must be put up by local government and/or state transportation departments.
We don’t know whether or not the business (there, happy?) has a permit to post the sign or not, they very well might.
Also look at the picture, from the view we see its not exactly a bustling high density down town. As fas as I know Tacoma, Wash. isn’t exactly a bustling metropolitan area. I would love to so a comment from some one who lives there and knows where that Subway is to tell us what the location around it is like.
Your dead wrong on that aspect. Tacoma is actually a large city in the state of WA as it’s also located only about 30-40 miles from Seattle.
I actually lived in Tacoma (gag) for about 8 months. To many people and too much traffic for my likings.
At last check though, the Subway would be cited for it since it :
1) wasn’t put up by an official
2) is NOT on property they own
3) that type of business is not/could not, be running an event that would make the sign permissible.
*Shrug* For all I care, Subway could go the way of the Quiznos around here.
I live near this Subway location. While this particular part of town is far from bustling, it’s also immediately next to a church, a large hospital and medical offices, a park, a coffee shop, and multiple other businesses such as a tattoo parlor and a grocery store. Other parts of Tacoma are indeed busier, such as downtown.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma,_wa
It may well be illegal to post the Subway sign on that city property. Around here it’s against city regs to post anything on light posts, sign posts, etc. without a permit to do so. This even applies to yard sale signs, lost-dog signs, etc.
You don’t believe that for a minute. This whole post was a ruse for you to put the word “sammiches” out there.
Actually in most locations, posting a sign on the city/state/town/municipality owned light post or utility pole is illegal.
Also, you said no one would be directly hurt by the sign. What about nearby businesses who rely on open public parking for their patrons. Many jurisdictions have public parking calculations that indicate for every x square feet of retail space you need to have y number of parking places. This ensures that during most times of the day under most circumstances, there will be adequate parking and traffic will not be obstructed. Subway has a peak period of business between 11:30 or so and 1:30, after that, the stores are typically very quiet. During these quiet times the “reserved” parking spot will likely remain empty which throws off the adequate parking calculations.
It’s not legal to just attach stuff to city property. I’m sure that there are plenty of laws that this is breaking that the local government could find if they cared enough.
One of the other posters posted the Tacoma city ordinance (in another thread). It would appear that it is indeed illegal to hang the sign.
It’s a municipally-owned space, yes. But the municipality could very well designate a space for a certain business if it wants to. Maybe the business payed the city/town for the privilege of reserving the spot. Maybe the city/town just does this sometimes if a business asks for it.
Honestly, unless this city/town has a major parking problem, I don’t see what’s wrong with it. If it does have such a problem, the residents of said city/town ought to petition their local leaders to stop allowing businesses to reserve parking.
The city already limits parking in this spot to one hour during the week + Saturdays, so that should say something about the availability of parking.
As many have said, no private citizen or business has the authority to post a no parking sign on a public street or alleyway. There are provisions for businesses to reserve parking spaces through their municipality. Even if Subway has reserved a space properly, this particular sign would be worthless. No parking signs posted by a municipality or private party must include the ordinance number allowing the posting or a notice that it was posted in accordance with city ordinance. They also must meet certain size, color and location requirements. Many cities are not doing this because of costs, but they should be.
This came up in one of my paralegal classes during a discussion about parking violation defenses the instructor-attorney mentioned a federal court ruling from the 50′s that is still valid concerning this. Can you imagine a parking ticket going to federal court? Also, as mentioned, it would be perfectly acceptable for anyone to remove the sign, and it’s very likely the city can fine the store for X number of dollars per day for every day it is up.
Where I live, there are a lot of alleys and many businesses try this tactic in them. Also a no go. Even a private parking/tow away type sign on private land is not enforceable if it is not posted with the ordinance number authorizing it to be posted and it meets certain minimum size and location requirements. That is the case in many municipalities.
Where is this place that you call “Tacoma, Wash.”? I have been a consumerist reader for many years, and only know of stores and businesses in “Redacted”.
Agreed, I have always been shocked by how universally rotten all the businesses in Redacted are!
I live in Redacted and its the irresponsible websites like these that have caused my city’s economy do lag the nation. You run these works of fictions as “news”, and the next thing you know know one is visiting our businesses. The local Best Buy had to lay off TWO receipt checkers right before Christmas because business was down. A few days after that a Radio Shack manager was attacked in his store, and had to call mall security on his assailant. You run a story about how he lied to this “customer” and he gets demoted. His wife left him.
I don’t know how much more my city can take. Please stop.
Priceless
Private businesses can have sole authority over certain public parking spots on a street if their city has a leasing plan that allows for it – however, I doubt this is the case in this instance. If they did have the authority, then the main sign would not say one hour, and the Subway sign would not be zip-tied to the public pole.
In the case of one of my former workplaces, we had 6 spots in front of the business that we leased from the city. The city removed their signs and allowed us to post signs alerting people that it was a tow zone and with our towing company’s name.
I used to work at a place that had a “Handicap Parking” sign attached to a traffic cone. They would place it in any parking space they wanted to “reserve.” Of course they would be out of luck if a handicapped person showed up.
A “meter maid” friend of mine said, those signs are not enforceable. They need to be at eye level, and the parking space outlined in blue. If you get a ticket parking in a handicapped spot where the sign isn’t at eye level or the spot outlined in blue – then you can take it to court and get it thrown out. At least in Florida anyway.
just go to Potbellys
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Potbelly’s. I want a milkshake now!
I love the little cookies they put around the straws. If the milkshakes weren’t something like 700 calories, I’d have one right now.
Because it’s totally an option for everyone! Not like the closest one to me is 216.33 miles away or anything.
Potbelly’s is so good. Austin Texas firmly has me in its clutches.
I’m pretty sure I can grab the sign and go well within 15 minutes. Shouldn’t be a problem.
Indeed. If I saw a sign like that I would cut it down and take it with me.
I like to try and keep my community clear of litter and graffiti. Since this light pole belongs to the public, this posting by definition is litter and/or graffiti.
I think it’s nice of them, reserving a spot for me when I go out to do my errands, I wonder if they try to enforce it.
Stores don’t own the spots outside of their stores, the signs are illegal. I know that some army recruiting centers tried to do the same thing, and they were told anyone can park on the street.
Can’t post anything unauthorized on a traffic control sign where I live. Sometimes there is a sticker on the back with more information. I don’t think this is legal. Just go in and ask them what is up?
The city doesn’t own the space either, it’s in the public right-of-way, and should be freely available for parking without additional fees from the local municipality.
Go and remove the sign. If a Subway employee hassles you, do one of two things:
1) Say you’re doing volunteer work for the city by cleaning up light poles;
2) Say you’re doing Subway a favor by preventing them from being fined for putting up an illegal sign.
generic subway parking sign meant for a store with a parking lot mixed with a moron manager.
Exactly.
I think this is ridiculous. I don’t have a subway comparison, but a local high endish restaurant blocks off a lane of an intersection downtown as their valet parking. They cone off a lane of a city owned road, and sometimes there’s signs blocking the way. I’m always sure to drive up when it’s not blocked off. I like to sit at the intersection and smile at them. I hate it with a passion.
Here in Chicago our Mayor sold ALL of the parking spaces to a private company. We now have the highest parking rates in the county. Consider your self lucky that Subway only has one space.
In Baltimore County, Maryland, citizens are explicitly permitted by the law to remove illegal signs on public property.
This is a private sign on public property, unless they have permission this is not allowed. Also lol at the guy who said Subway would leave if the city did anything about it.
I drive past this same Subway everyday on my way to work. (No, I’m not the Justin from the letter) It’s annoyed me since the first time I saw it. I might have to park for an hour while I sit on my hood eating a Mike’s Deluxe. (MSM Deli FTW)
Grab and Go takes 15 minutes? Unless they mean grabbing a sandwich, eating it, and then going to the bathroom, maybe, 10-15 minutes, yeah.
Most of the times I go to Subway, I spend that long just waiting in line…
The Subway by my work parks their delivery tricycle (no joke) on the side walk. They don’t put up a sign that claims the sidewalk is there just for them though…
“I’m wondering if Subway is sending these out and trying to override municipal parking regulations all across the nation.”
Or maybe they’re intended for the thousands of Subway restaurants that have parking lots.
It’s called “courtesy”, people. While “courtesy” is a foreign concept for some — I’m looking at you, Alvin — If more of us had it, the world would be a nicer place.
Subway’s 15 minute sign may no be legally enforceable if it is a public street parking space, especially since it’s on the same pole as a municipal 1 hr parking sign, but to be “courteous” to your fellow citizens who only need to park for a few minutes to grab a sandwich, it would be nice if you avoided parking there.
Just like the “expectant mothers”, or the like, parking spaces. While they are not legally enforceable like the handicap parking spaces, it would be a nice thing if pregnant women could park a little closer to the door, considering the variety of inconveniences they have during pregnancy.
Why? I had nothing to do with you and your desire to spawn. Why should you get to cherry pick whatever parking spot you want? If it’s cold and raining, hell yes I’m taking that Pregnant Woman” spot if it’s open.
It’s called being nice to someone.
You’re well within your rights to not be nice, and nothing will happen to you. (Well, unless they parking lot owner tells you to get lost, but I doubt they will)
Here’s the thing, and you should remember this. In the morning, when you wake up and look at yourself in the mirror, every day for the rest of your life, you’ll still be the jerk who parked in the pregnant woman spot, and nothing will change that.
Enjoy!
Agreed, Dragon. Unfortunately, “Common” courtesy just isn’t that common any more. *Sigh*
How about Subway’s common courtesy to let me park my car where I have the legal right to do it? Unless Subway’s is the only frickin’ business or house on the entire street, it should consider my need to park there to go next door or two doors down or enjoy the park across the street. It should do me the courtesy of not trying to screw me out of parking at an open spot and allow me to go about my business.
Here in Denver a lot of nightclubs cone off metered parking on streets to accommodate limos and valet service. If short on parking I’d have no problem simply moving the cone and parking there. Except for my vehicle getting messed with by the staff…
IIRC a local news team did a story a few years back, but I see it all over downtown still.
re: Denver night clubs – the only way to legally do that is to have the meters bagged by the city (with each bagged meter at $15 per 24 hours). No bag? You can pretty much run over their cones if you want. And the clubs can be charged with ‘impeding traffic’.
We had one business owner (outside of Denver) that insisted that their ” Parking Only” signs on a state highway were legally enforceable. Business owner received an education when they tried to waste my time enforcing the illegal signs…
And if it’s on a state highway (like Colfax or 6th Avenue), the state can also get involved. CDOT LOVES to run over or ignore stuff like that!
I would remove Subway’s sign. And then do it again, once replaced. Let them bitch to the city about their stolen signs.
Did the OP talk to the owner of the Subway or municipal parking board?
I served on my city’s planning and development board for four years and we worked with the city council and municipal parking board for the appropriate variances to help restaurants do exactly what is mentioned in the article. One of the conditions was that the business owner had to pay for and supply the appropriate signage.
Not especially high traffic area, but parking is at a premium and Subway at this location has no private parking.
If there really wanted a 15 minute zone right in front of their door, they COULD request one from the city.
Putting up their own signs on public lamp posts is unlawful by local code, as quoted in a post above.
Here’s the Google Maps view…
http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&q=subway+sandwich,&fb=1&gl=us&rq=1&ev=zo&split=1&t=h&sll=47.244629,-122.436619&sspn=0.048362,0.105057&radius=2.96&hq=subway+sandwich,&hnear=&ll=47.262289,-122.451722&spn=0.048812,0.105057&z=13&layer=c&cbll=47.262249,-122.451599&panoid=aCy3Vm9BotACcKzpKtAFJw&cbp=12,187.58,,0,12.14
OP here. A City Councilmember has looked at the sign and believes it does violate local code. The timing of this story is interesting as the city has been experimenting with paid and time-limited parking in various areas where there previously were no restrictions – and obviously the store owner believes in that system. As of today the sign is still there, but I’ll post again if it goes down.
“The sign looks mass-produced”
Its what looks like a plastic sign, printed in Helvetica typeface. Its something even the most mediocre graphic designer could do. Unless it says Doctors associates or subway IP holder on it, I’m gonna say a print store did it.
Turn the sign around to face the other direction. There’s a corner there, which means it’s illegal to park there. All of a sudden you have people making subway pay for their tickets and the sign disappears. Genius!
Maybe it comes in a kit for the franchisees, under the assumption that it will go in a private parking lot?
Normally those Subway signs are placed in parking lots at strip malls. Sounds like an idiot store manager got a directive from corporate to “put the sign up on the parking spot closest to the front door of the store.”
Found this subway on google maps by using street view…..here is the address
Subway –
124 North I Street, Tacoma, WA (253) 572-2520
Well..just reported it to Cindy Moore at 253-594-7897…she said she is heading there right now to talk to the manager
Wouldn’t that be the same thing as putting a sign up that says “Reserved for UnicornMaster”?
Well..just reported it to Cindy Moore at 253-594-7897…she said she is heading there right now to talk to the manager