Saving Parking Spaces in Winter
Is Holding a Shoveled-Out Spot with Furniture a Do or a Don't?
When major snowfall hits, and drivers spend hours in the bitter cold digging out their cars, many feel entitled to "hold" or "save" their spot by placing personal property, such as a chair or garbage can, where their car was, so that upon returning home, they can reclaim the parking spot they so painstakingly shoveled.
However, some cities have had it with the practice of calling "dibs" on a parking space on a public city street.
Staking Dibs on a Spot May Be Illegal
In Boston, Massachusetts, the time-honored tradition of holding a shoveled-out parking space has come under city government regulation. The City of Boston states that "spacesavers®" may only be used when the city has officially declared a snow emergency, and "Any spacesavers® left in on-street parking spaces that have been shoveled out must be removed 48 hours after a snow emergency has ended."
Chicago, Illinois, has decided that Streets & Sanitation workers will begin to remove items holding parking spaces if residents won't. According to the Chicago Tribune, "The practice is technically against the law because it's an obstruction of the public way, Streets and Sanitation spokesman Matt Smith said. But the department uses common sense in allowing the informal justice of dibs to hold sway in the side streets for a few days after major snowstorms."
Items Commonly Used to Hold Spots
The big orange cone appears to be the preferred item of choice for space-saving, but a Boston.com photo gallery illustrates that people will go to great lengths to find items to save their spot.
Items spotted in Boston and Chicago include:
- Garbage cans
- Paint buckets
- Chairs and benches (folding, rocking, computer chairs... even old armchairs!)
- Children's playthings
- Laundry hampers
- Milk crates
- Tables
- Bottles of laundry detergent
- Shovels
- Clothesracks
- Shopping carts
Conflicting Views on Fairness
Advocates of saving spaces argue that the person who shoveled the spot is entitled to it, but opponents maintain that the public streets are city—not private—property. In a Boston.com online poll, the majority of respondents (42%) said that parking spaces are "public property, no one has the right to claim it." On the other end of the spectrum, 7% of respondents said that shoveling out a spot meant they could claim it "indefinitely."
Things to Consider Before You Save Your Spot
- Is the practice legal in your city or town? Check your city or town web site or call a local official or police station to check to avoid any fines associated with the practice.
- Consider your neighbors: chances are, if this isn't a practice they participate in, they'll be annoyed. Also, if your neighbors have elderly or handicapped visitors, you could be inconveniencing someone who needs the spot a lot more than you do.
- Is the item you're planning to use something you wouldn't mind losing? Angry neighbors or city street and sanitation workers may remove the item, throw it out, or even steal it. Don't use your favorite folding chair.
- Is there a better parking option? Perhaps you can rent a garage spot in the winter to spare yourself the pain of shoveling and avoid the inter-neighborhood tensions that can arise.
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