Parking ticket zeal helps no one in Tisbury

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To the Editor:

I thought it important and helpful to convey my thoughts regarding a recent experience that clearly is not pro MV business. This past Saturday, my wife and I had an enjoyable breakfast and did some shopping on Main Street, Vineyard Haven. We went into five or six shops and spent approximately $1,500. Our car was parked in the municipal lot in front of the police station. There were many open spots.

When we returned to the car, 40 minutes beyond the two-hour limit, we were greeted with a $15 overtime parking violation. I was wondering if I should just move my car to one of the other vacant spaces, but was afraid I’d get another ticket. It was obvious that your parking inspectors were on top of their game.

I was more than annoyed, I was outraged. I can understand high season/summer concerns for making parking available to the public. But to be so rigid in the winter when there is plenty of easy parking for all, is nasty and certainly in no one’s interest.

I wasn’t taking a walk on the beach or visiting a friend in town. I was helping the downtown economy a lot more than the revenue received from a ridiculous $15 ticket.

In the future, I will certainly not get another ticket. I will check my watch and be sure to stop shopping in time to get my car out of town and let the shop owner know why I must leave. I would suggest that in a down economy, in a period of time that all the merchants in town are trying to do a little more business at the end of the year, that you encourage a more lenient ticketing policy. (I feel much better now.)

Bob Stein

Marblehead