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Decompression
Jan 31, 2011, 10:22 PM
All right for starters I don't have a lot of money so paying it is a little much especially at the tune of 175$

The exact charge is Parking on a sidewalk area:

I have looked through my state statutes and haven't found a legal definition of a sidewalk area. Tomorrow I am going to be calling the city recorders office as well as the zoning office as I'm almost positive its zoned as an electrical easement. With the exception of the down town area of the city in which I live in ALL of the residential curbs are slanted at a 45 degree angle.

There IS NO SIDEWALK in this dirt area, no signage, and the one cop that cares enough to do anything only comes at night, not to mention people have been parking in this area for years with not one inclination that it was a problem. The city itself has refused to put in sidewalks when the neighborhood has requested it.

Any thoughts?

P.S. ( I work in construction Specifically as an electrician theirs a good ten feet of space between my buddy's fence and the curb, my truck is only 4 ft wide. IE if I wanted to be a **** I could drive another truck just like mine down the space and still have room for someone walking by. I was also only there for 15min dropping off tools ***! )

excon
Feb 1, 2011, 05:00 AM
There IS NO SIDEWALK in this dirt area, no signage, Hello D:

Take pictures.

excon

Decompression
Feb 1, 2011, 03:54 PM
Hello,

I have a whole slue of photographs of the street in question as well as the surrounding streets, was planning on bringing them to court tomorrow I also called AZDOT ( or USDOT ) and they transferred me to a guy that worked with Right of way ( they work with pedestrian thoroughfares ) Not to mention I looked up out parking statutes which specifically say on sidewalk ( ie: cement pathway ).

Richard was the man they transferred me to ( I have his last name and phone number just in case ) I told him it was a 10 ft section of dirt with a slanted curb at a 45 degree angle ( he told me its called a mountable curb ) Designed specifically for partial parking for narrow streets that when people park on the street two lanes of traffic cannot be maintained and that as long as there was 4 or more feet for pedestrian traffic to get through there would be no problems with parking there.

So I go to court tomorrow and let you know what result I get... whether it be good or bad I hope some of this information helps someone else out...

excon
Feb 1, 2011, 04:01 PM
Hello again, D:

Get the statutes YOURSELF. The judge isn't going to let you tell him what Richard told you.

I got a ticket in Scottsdale for RUNNING over a curb. When I showed the judge pictures of the corner, where it was almost impossible to make the turn WITHOUT running over the curb, I was found not guilty... It gave me great pleasure to wink at the cop as I departed the courtroom.

That'll happen to you tomorrow.

excon

AK lawyer
Feb 1, 2011, 04:02 PM
...
The exact charge is Parking on a sidewalk area:

I have looked through my state statutes and haven't found a legal definition of a sidewalk area. ...

Did the officer write the citation for the exact charge on the ticket? I'm guessing he did not. Because is it possible that you are accused of violating a local ordinance instead of a state statute?

Which state, BTW? Never mind- Arizona.

look here. (http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/28/00601.htm&Title=28&DocType=ARS)

"24. "Sidewalk" means that portion of a street that is between the curb lines or the lateral lines of a roadway and the adjacent property lines and that is intended for the use of pedestrians."

If that's the definition they are going on, I don't see that it has to be paved to be a "sidewalk" or "sidewalk area".