Parking ticket appeals streamlined

ROSEBURG, Ore. – The parking ticket appeal process will be simplified for drivers following collaborative efforts by the City of Roseburg and its parking program contractor, ACE Parking.

The City has worked with ACE Parking to refine the process by eliminating administrative review for drivers who want to contest a ticket. The modification will change what had been a three-step process into a simpler, two-step process.

“We are working with ACE Parking to streamline the process with one less step for folks who want to contest a ticket,” said Roseburg City Manager Nikki Messenger. “The process we’re going through now is -- can we make the appeals process easier for the customer?”

Parking enforcement resumed downtown and in the Laurelwood neighborhood in spring 2022 after extensive community input. The program’s goal is to provide more on-street parking spaces for short-term customer parking downtown and enforce permitted parking in Laurelwood to prevent overflow from nearby Roseburg High School.

In addition to on-street parking, the City maintains six public parking facilities offering low-cost monthly permits, which are administered by ACE Parking for downtown business owners, workers and residents. As of Feb. 23, there were at least 1,368 parking spaces or “stalls” downtown, including 822 on-street spaces and at least 546 off-street stalls. Free yet time-limited spots can mainly be found on the Downtown Parking Garage Level 1 and Jackson Street, Main Street and several cross streets. Most time-limited parking is restricted to two or three hours, with two locations offering up to four hours.

Monthly Downtown Parking Garage rates are $17 for level 3 and $22 for level 2. Monthly parking lot rates range from $22 for the Court Street Parking Lot to $35 for the Armory Parking Lot. 

Under the new process, ACE Parking will no longer conduct an administrative review, according to City officials and ACE Parking Regional Director Brandon Johnson. The new process will be as follows:

• A driver who wants to contest a parking ticket must do so within 10 days of the ticket being issued. Drivers can appeal by going online to aceparking.com/ROSEBURG; emailing roseburgenforcement@aceparking.com; or visiting ACE Parking at 612 SE Jackson St., Suite 5, in Roseburg.

• ACE Parking will then send the driver a “hearing request” letter containing the upcoming date for an in-person hearing before the Municipal Judge – a date that also is contained on a slip of paper affixed to the back of the original citation when it’s first issued to the vehicle. Court hearings will be held at Roseburg City Hall’s Municipal Court, 900 SE Douglas Ave, at 1:30 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month following the month in which a ticket was issued. Drivers should not show up to court without filing an appeal.

• The paper printout attached to the original ticket and the hearing request letter will state that no payment is required before the in-person hearing with the Judge.

• ACE Parking also will send a copy of the hearing request letter to Municipal Court for the Judge’s review.

• On the hearing date, the Judge will issue a decision on whether to dismiss or uphold the ticket, and penalties/fines/late fees a driver must pay.

“This process should streamline things for everyone involved and allow for a quicker response when a citation is contested,” Johnson wrote in an email.

However, drivers can choose to immediately pay the fine for a parking violation, rather than appeal a ticket. Payments can be mailed or dropped off with ACE Parking, or paid online with a processing fee. Parking tickets range from $12 for such things as parking in an alley or tow-away zone, $15 for being double-parked or $17 for blocking an alley to $28 for an expired meter, $35 for obstructing a sidewalk, $60 for blocking a fire hydrant or $210 for parking in a handicapped zone. ACE can issue one-day, $5 parking meter exemption permits for new store owners, moving vehicles, construction, etc.

Since September 2022, ACE Parking has been affixing a small paper printout to the back of tickets to explain how to pay or contest a ticket and the information that hearings are held on the last Tuesday of every month at 1:30 p.m. Unfortunately, information being circulated in the community may be causing some drivers to ignore tickets and incur late fines.

“Our current tickets are in compliance. The tickets are valid unless the Municipal Judge has dismissed a ticket,” said Messenger. “Folks need to either pay the ticket or let ACE know they’re going to appeal.”

Drivers who want to contest tickets must start the process by contacting ACE in person or online at aceparking.com/Roseburg. Parking fines grow if not contested or paid within 10 days of the issue date. Ten days after a ticket is issued, $10 will be added to the original fine. After 30 days, another $30 will be added to the ticket. After 50 days, another $50 will be tacked on.

The small paper printout will continue to be affixed to tickets during a transitional period to allow time to review and modify the streamlined appeals process. After that period ends, new parking ticket paper stock will be ordered and the court hearing date to appeal a ticket will be hand-written on the back of tickets, near general info explaining how to appeal, according to Johnson. Specific information about the vehicle, infraction, fine, date, time, etc., appears on the front.

A Downtown Parking Assessment and Plan was developed by the City, a consultant and the Roseburg Parking Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which met for a year and a half through February 2021. Community input also was collected through a public outreach campaign including public hearings and a survey that gathered priorities from more than 300 residents, including 55 downtown business owners or workers.

The City has invested millions of dollars to improve downtown, which people visit for its unique character as Roseburg’s vibrant cultural center – and that’s one of the benefits to having a business downtown. While the City maintains six off-street public parking facilities downtown, the absence of additional parking lots adds charm, business density and variety.

The program is meant to be financed by the Off-Street Parking Fund, an enterprise fund intended to operate independently without City general fund support. However, the fund has operated at a deficit since the COVID-19 pandemic, so the City has used American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to supplement the program.

City-Owned Off-Street Parking Garage and Lots:

Downtown Parking Garage, SE Washington Avenue and SE Rose Street (299 parking spaces: Level 1, at least 49; Levels 2 & 3, 250): Level 1: Free parking, up to four hours; Level 2: $22/month; Level 3: $17/month.

Armory Parking Lot, Kane Street/Washington Avenue (41 spaces): $35/month.

Court Street Parking Lot, 600 block of Court Street (24 permit spaces; 90 total spaces): $22/month.

Phillips Parking Lot, 800 block of SE Stephens Street (45 spaces): $28/month.

Shalimar Parking Lot, 700 block of SE Stephens Street (19 spaces): $32/month.

Rose Parking Lot, SE Cass Avenue/SE Rose Street (52 spaces: 17 permitted, at least 35 free, up-to-four-hours spaces): $30.

To buy a monthly parking permit or one-day, $5 meter-exemption permit, contact ACE Parking, 612 SE Jackson St., Suite 5, Roseburg, in person; by phone at 541-900-1102; or by email at roseburgenforcement@aceparking.com.