Evening star., 1937-02-07
CITIZENS OPPOSE
PARKING AT NIGHT
Court Decision Holding Ban
Illegal Contested by
Dupont Circle.

SHSbs vi SsSs
The Dupont Circle Citizens Asso-
ciation, in its of1cial publication, the
Dupont Circle Reporter, commenting
on the decision Of . Police Court Judge
who ruled the special 2 am. to 8 am.
no-psrking signs on more than 80 of
tho streets and highways to permit
snow removal illegal, stated "It is .
detr1ment to the commonwealth to
have unrestricted parking permitted
almost everywhere"
favored the elimination Of all-night
parking. In one Of the recent meet.
ings william Clark Taylor suggested
that automobile owners be taxed to
raise funds to build municipal garages,
which would be rented at Q nominal
charge.
Ruling Il Reviewed.
The comment on the snow removal
parking prohibition Is, in part. as fol-
lows:
within the last few days, q de-
cision handed down in Police Court
declares that the ban on night park
Ing on certain heavily travelled streets,
to permit the removal Of snow, Is ille-
gal. Apparently. the ruling Of the
court hinges on the question of
whether an emergency exists which
would warrant the Commissioners to
exercise their regulatory authority
when there Is no snow on the ground.
In brief. the regulation is held to be
arbitrary, unnecessary and unreason-
able.
I'VE are glad to note that the case
Is likely to be taken to the Court OF
Appeals. This association welcomed
the regulation in question when origi-
nally promulgated and was encouraged
to see it renewed this Winter in a
modified form which 1t was hoped
would meet the legal objection that
had nullified the order Of q year ago.
This association definitely sees in
unrestricted parking permitted almost
everywhere, day or night, detriment
to the commonwealth. With cur
streets lined solidly with parked cars
every night, how can authorities be
expected to keep these streets clean?
1t cannot and it does not. But those
who are most vehement in denouncing
this failure are often the loudest in
demanding the use of the highway as
public garage.
III the situation in normal weather
is bad, it becomes still worse when ag-
gravated by fall Of snow. Then. the
best that the street cleaners can do is
to force the snow back under and
against the parked car, imbedding all
Nth previously located there and pro-
viding catch trap for refuse for days,
or even weeks, to come.
Streets Meant for Traffic.
This association holds to the opin-
ion that our streets are primarily in.
tended to carry traffic. For that pur-
pose they have become sadly choked
by the continuous parking now toler-
ated. Snow makes this situation
worse and often creates an emergent
condition which requires no technical
training to discern. But Of what value
will it be to enact a regulation to con-
troll such a condition after the condi-
ton exists? Are We to sound a tocsin
and rout our all-night parkers from
their beds when the snow begins to
fall in the deep night hours? The
reasonableness Of such a plan would
be subject to serious doubt.
Just as the levee to control flood
water must be erected in advance of
the food, so the regulation to facili-
tate snow removal must come before
the snowfall. We do not presume to
criticize the decision of learned court
Of justice. Its opinion was undoubted-
ly reached after careful and expert
enced deliberation. A higher court
may, however. hold different opinion
We hope 1t will. On the other hand,
If legal defects exist in the present
regulation. let's clear away the tech
nicalities and secure the authority to
make n reculafion effective"