PORTLAND, Maine — Some Portland residents got an ugly wake-up call Saturday when they found their cars were gone, according to a report from WGME 13.
The city issued a parking ban for Friday night from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Saturday morning.
Some residents who spoke with WGME at the tow lot said they didn’t even know there was a ban, and that when they did see their car was gone, finding it became another challenge.
“I had to call three numbers just to find out where it was, which I think is a little bit … there’s a bit of a miscommunication there,” said Danielle Bernier. Vehicles were towed to an Ocean Gateway Terminal parking lot along Commercial Street.
The city reported it would have a parking ban on Friday morning on its website, the Time and Temperature building, which is one of the city’s tallest buildings, displays “PARK BAN” on parking ban nights, and WGME reported the parking ban on its website and on air.
The city says it towed more than 150 vehicles Friday night.
Note to City of Bangor :
When instituting a citywide parking ban – keep the Downtown parking garage open all night. This will enable the public to vacate the streets and offer Public Works an unencumbered palette to work their magic.
I believe it is open all night. I have used it before and after hours.
Actually, it closes at 9:00pm – without a monthly pass you can’t get in. If you get in before 9, you can’t get out (for free) until 7:00am.
It used to be open all night but it was free after hours. Maybe Bangor cut the hours for some reason. I know if you have a pass you can get in any time of day
Wow. Objectively stating the problem AND then a reasonable solution. Not something we see in the comments sections often. Well played.
Wonder what they think ‘parking ban’ means? I would know where to look for it if I took a chance and foolishly left it there.
Other things Portlanders don’t know:
Erecting a shanty town in the local park is ILLEGAL
You don’t automatically have to vote for someone with a D after their name
Good sushi
Actually, the Occupy dopes ought to just move into the towed vehicles for the winter. They’ve not respected other private property, so why not just confiscate the cars.
conservative filter”** conservative filter: the ability of conservatives to only notice things negative concerning conservatives and positive concerning liberals in the media or in discussion, creating a false sense of bias. Positive conservative news/discussion or negative liberal news/discussion is ignored and filtered out from the conservative brain, further enhancing the conservative sense of perpetual victimhood.
wah wah wah
You can occupy and destroy a public park illegally and suffer no consequences but not a parking space when there’s snow. Maine, the way life should be!
wah, wah,,,,its winter, pay attention.
Wow Danielle…You had to make three phone calls…That must have been quite a hardship…
LOL….Baahhhhhh
Seems like that was a big waste of time and money.
The city makes a lot of money on towed cars…
LMAO….and therin lies the rub…dontcha’ love gubmint!?
must be somethiong new
Is it the city that tows them or a private company? If it is a private company then the city doesn’t make much money from towing.
you pay several fees to get your car, also if you have any parking tickets….
I have never been towed, bit I do know several people that were unfortunate enough to be towed.
if you have parking tickets you deserve to be towed whether there’s a parking ban or not.
yes, but that’s not the subject of this article…
wasnt commenting on the article. was commenting on your comment in which you brought up people with parking tickets.
A private company that pays the city for the contract to do it. Rumors years ago in Bangor was officers could get paid per car by the tow company, but they might have been started by someone who got towed…
People would complain about the city not cleaning up if they didnt do this. And they have a source of revenue to help pay for snow pick up. win-win. Bangor should take note. There is a truck on Pearl st. that hasn’t moved in months.
I don’t live in Portland and even I knew about the parking ban…
Are you kidding? We live at the north end of The County and we knew about the parking ban. C’mon, this is just common sense. Pay attention.
THIS is government…enjoy!!!
no this is people being stupid and then blaming it on the government
Who can keep up with the rules. I got a $20 dollar ticket for parking on the wrong side of the street, on the wrong day,downhill without my wheels turned to the curb. Pay up or lose my license. Looney.
if you cant keep up with the ‘parking rules’ then you probly shouldnt be trusted with the ‘driving rules’.
My least favorite thing about Portland. I remember the mile long hikes back to my apartment from the civic center in waist deep snow.
I lived in Portland for 7 years and found out about parking bans the first week I lived there. There are signs up all over the city with directions, it was always on the news and it is just common sense if you have lived there for any amount of time. I was lucky my place had a driveway, but many had to park on streets and it was their responsibility to follow the law. I do not feel sorry for these 150 ppl…they should know better. I do feel sorry for those who truly didn’t know….but now they do.
I feel sorry for the public works employees who had to work extra hours due to 150 idiots who dont know enough to move thier vehicles during a parking ban.
YES exactly…but I wonder if they were laughing the whole time they were moving them.
If they are new to the city, I get it.
That should help the city budget.
Boston has small blue lights attached to stop lights that flash during a parking ban. Another good indication that there will be a parking ban and that you can not park outside and risk towing of your vehicle is to look outside and see if it snowing!
one thing I always admired about Portland is the fact that they clean up snow very quickly. If Seattle could clean up this 1 inch as quick as Portland clears feet of snow, I’d be in Heaven!
You can see the Time and Temp building from almost anywhere!
Yes, it sucks, but they have parking lot designated for bans, USE THEM!!!!
Always loved sliding down Queen Anne Hill from West Highland.
Ha ha, Seattle and Tacoma only had on plow between the cities for 5 lanes of interstate. 1 inch deadlocks the area and is usually what they get a year. Hard to compare.
I guess there are 150 people that don’t look at the clock, have a tv or a computer or any of the other gadgets that they could have been notified on.
As soon as the clock hits the top of the hour the guy is hooking up the cars and forget trying to have him leave your car because your watch is one minute slow, no deal. At least it was towed to Commercila street, in the 80’s it was like out in Gorham.
That would teach them
http://x61.ch/88d926
i almost got towed in bangor a few years ago during a ban…til this day i don’t understand the rules…”odd days park left even days park right” WTF is that?
In Bangor, you can park on the sidewalk, the road and near a fire hydrant. What you cannot do and will get ticketed for is park on the beloved esplanade.
This could be easily handled – many cities just use a recording to call all the homes of the people who will be affected by the ban the night or two before. Its a simple set up and a simple solution for all people and its easier to remember to get your phone messages. I have also heard that many places are also setting up email reminders of a parking ban – a great way at a low cost to remember when you need to move your car.
So Portland what reason do you have now to incovenience others – As I know for a fact you already know about doing what I have suggested.