"Lazy" Double Parkers Could Face $100 Fine

If you double park in Easton, you're in danger of a $25 ticket.

But if the police can determine that you're guilty of "lazy" double parking? Well, be prepared to pay four times as much.

That's according to a new ordinance proposed by City Councilman Jeff Warren. It would charge anyone who double parked when a parking space was already available -- i.e. "lazy" double parkers -- with a $100 ticket. After a week, the fine would go up $25. 

Warren told council's public safety committee Tuesday that although police have only issued about seven double parking tickets in the last six months, he's gotten numerous complaints about it. He added that he realized his proposal could be seen as a money-making scheme.

"We're not trying to ticket our way to budget salvation," Warren said. "Quite frankly, if there's a spot that's 20 feet away from you and you don’t park in it, you should be ticketed."

But Councilwoman Elinor Warner wanted to know how police would separate the lazy from the "simply annoying" double parkers.

"Maybe I double park, and there’s a space that opens up while I buy my pack of gum," she said, and asked why the city wasn't just raising its fine for double parking.

Police Chief Carl Scalzo acknowledged that in court, officers would have to prove a space was available.

But City Administrator Glenn Steckman said the ordinance "adds a little extra string" to double parkers.

Meanwhile, council began looking at the idea of parking spaces for motorcycles and scooters. It's a move prompted by Warner, who drives a scooter.

"When people see me pulling into a parking space with my scooter, they yell at me," she said. "They’re mad because I’m taking up a whole parking space."

Mayor Sal Panto said one possibility is devoting half of a space to scooters and motorcycles.