Monica Yant Kinney: A Philadelphia parking primer

If I learned anything after writing about police officers who dumped their personal cars on city sidewalks, it's that Parking Wars may be the most aptly named program on TV.

Of course cops break the rules and get away with it, readers griped. They're not alone. Parking in the birthplace of American democracy is hardly egalitarian.

Why, folks asked, do pickups park wherever they please near construction sites? Why are TV news vans always up on the sidewalk?

Why does the normally ferocious Parking Authority ignore the decades-long tradition of parking in the middle of South Broad Street?

Who let fancy restaurants eat up precious street spaces for valets? And what's the deal with all the "authorized" spaces in Center City?

So many readers shared so many head-scratching observations and aggravations, I felt compelled to wade into the proverbial potholes as a public service. I can't get your tickets fixed, but I can answer the questions that drive drivers nuts.

So behold, my first-ever Philly parking FAQ. For even more facts and figures I couldn't bear to leave in my notebook, see www.philly.com/philly/blogs/heardinthehall/.

To the naked eye, construction vehicles seem to be hogging metered spaces and spots where the rest of us would be quickly ticketed. The Parking Authority swears it's legit.

"Contractor Parking Placards are issued," the PPA's Rick Dixon explained via e-mail, "when it is necessary to have access to the vehicle for tools and equipment."

The permits let trucks ignore meters and loiter in loading zones for four hours. At just $100 every six months, it's quite a steal.

Valet parking is an even better deal - for the restaurants handed prime Center City real estate via permits costing only $250 a year.

Officially, the valet zones are for entering and exiting only.

"One of the requirements for approving the valet permit is that they have a contract with a parking facility," Dixon said. "They are never permitted to park them in on-street parking spaces."

In Philly, never say never.

The PPA has investigated scores of complaints from diners who paid to have their car parked only to later receive notice of a past-due violation issued while they ate - a ticket that was, presumably, torn up and tossed by the tip-hungry valet.

Dixon said the PPA punishes rogue valets. He was, however, curiously silent when I repeatedly asked about the sacred and dangerous tradition of parking in the center of South Broad Street.

Lest anyone think I'd give my colleagues in TV a free parking pass, I inquired about news vans' habit of jumping the curb for live shots.

The Big Story is that sidewalk parking is a no-no. But for Action News and other affiliates, the PPA generally looks the other way.

"If they are covering a story and there are no other parking options available," Dixon told me, "courtesy is usually extended."

And now, the pièce de résistance: authorized parking, also known as special perks for special people.

Citywide, I'm pleased to report, the Nutter administration has quietly taken a hatchet to the VIP list.

When the "new day, new way" folks took office, they discovered more than 1,300 city workers, elected officials, foreign dignitaries, political pals, and press with parking privileges at 900 "authorized" spots throughout Philadelphia, especially the blocks surrounding City Hall.

"There was no policy, and the list was clearly outdated," recalled Managing Director Camille Barnett. "There were people who no longer worked for the city. There were people not even alive."

Today, 940 people share 710 authorized spaces. And, in a victory for the rest of us, 15th Street between Arch and JFK Boulevard reverted from "authorized only" to parking for the public, i.e. city "customers."

"It's a small thing," Barnett noted, "but an important symbol."