BURBANK : Fines Increased for Parking Violations

The Burbank City Council increased fines for most parking violations by nearly 50% but delayed an increase for tickets on the two-hour parking limit out of concern for downtown theater and restaurant goers.

On a motion by Vice Mayor Bill Wiggins on Tuesday night, the council adopted a new parking fee schedule, increasing fines from $17 to $25 for violations of yellow zones, white zones, green zones, no parking zones and preferential parking.

“We want people to feel downtown is open for business,” Councilwoman Susan Spanos said, complaining that the two-hour parking limit was not enough time for a Burbank visitor to go to dinner and see a movie.

“We don’t want people to be rushing in trying to beat the clock,” she said, adding that she wanted the city to look into other options on setting time limits for parking.

Besides delaying action on fees for violating the two-hour limit, the council also delayed raising the fine for violating street-sweeping parking rules. These two violations, which each carry a fine of $17, account for almost two-thirds of the more than 53,000 parking tickets issued in Burbank annually.

But the City Council will reconsider raising those fines in four weeks after city officials and representatives of the downtown business sector confer.

The city is still working on changes in the street sweeping program, which has been complicated by the new automated trash pickup system. Trash bins now left in the streets interfere with the sweeping, and council members said they did not want to change the rates until after the system is reviewed.