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Residents urge changes after late-night snow towing and aggressive enforcement
Summary
Multiple Allentown residents told the city council that overnight snow removal tactics and Parking Authority enforcement have forced vulnerable neighbors to sit in cars for hours and face costly tickets and tows; council scheduled follow-ups with the Parking Authority and Public Works.
Dozens of residents used the council’s public-comment period to describe what they called aggressive, confusing and harmful snow-removal and parking-enforcement practices that played out overnight in multiple neighborhoods.
The complaints began when Enid Santiago (1243 South Jefferson Street) said snow has left residents unable to park and that the Parking Authority’s practice of treating marked cars as subject to towing after three days has produced ‘‘targeted harassment of poverty,’’ particularly in neighborhoods without driveways.
Mikayla Bell, who proposed a voluntary landlord program on housing affordability, spent much of her three minutes describing parking enforcement procedures she said are unfair and opaque: ‘‘They towed over 35 cars for parking on emergency routes,’’ she said, and contended contesting tickets can add court costs that quickly make a minor fine unaffordable.
Milagro Canales said a 12:22 a.m. deployment of sirens, bullhorns and tow threats during a recent snow event caused widespread fear in a neighborhood already coping with violence and economic stress. ‘‘This shock-and-awe tactic for a parking violation triggered acute stress responses,’’ she said, and urged officials to stop using sirens and bullhorns for snow enforcement.
Rebecca Ramos, whose family lives on the 500 block of Allen Street, described officers knocking on doors in the middle of the night and vehicles towed from streets with little available alternative parking, leaving handicapped residents waiting for hours to recover vehicles.
Council leadership responded during the meeting with two next steps: staff said a meeting with the Parking Authority is tentatively scheduled for April 8 for a question-and-answer session with council, and Vice President Mota will host a Public Works committee meeting on March 11 to review snow-plowing and removal policies with the department. The president said staff had reached out to the authority to try to set the meeting.
The meeting drew repeated requests that the city clarify posting and notification practices, explain how tow decisions are made when vehicles are moved and returned, and show whether enforcement is applied equitably across neighborhoods. Several commenters requested clearer appeal processes and faster, neighborhood-sensitive communication when snow events occur.
The council did not adopt any immediate policy changes during the meeting; rather, it scheduled the Parking Authority Q&A and the Public Works review as follow-ups.
