Here’s how to get $56 in Duluth parking rates in 3 hours

Our radio station studios and offices are located on Superior Street in downtown Duluth, which can be an interesting experience for several reasons. It’s also an experience made even more unpredictable because two of our radio stations have large studio windows that face the sidewalk.

I spend a lot of time in one of those studios, and you wouldn’t believe what I see and hear from the people who walk by or decide to hang out for me. That will be a story for another time, but right now I wanted to share an observation I made about a Duluth parking enforcement officer.

There are many paid parking spaces in front of the Holiday Center, which you can pay for on site or via the accompanying app. I’ve parked at this location many times over the years, and I’ve been guilty of going over my time, even receiving the occasional well-deserved ticket. Apparently on those occasions I was lucky enough to get just one ticket.

A very active enforcement officer on this day

Recently I saw a very active parking enforcement officer doing the rounds. I witnessed him giving out parking tickets for several vehicles right outside the studio around 11:30 am

I left the studio to go to my office for a bit and went back into the studio around 2 p.m. To my surprise, I saw the same parking attendant behind the Holiday Center doing his thing in the same row of parking spaces where he was just over two hours earlier.

I’ve never seen a cop return to the same spot so quickly and issue more parking tickets. He walked over to a vehicle he had previously ticketed and gave him a second ticket.

If you didn’t think you can get two parking tickets on the same day while parked in the same spot, especially if there is less than three hours between them, then the fact that I saw two brightly colored parking ticket envelopes in the door proves that you do. can. That’s an expensive parking lot!

I thought that was a bit unfair and even predatory behavior by that parking enforcement officer, regardless of Duluth’s parking ticket policy. It was a Tuesday and there were no major events taking place in the area.

City of Duluth Downtown Parking Policy

I checked Duluth’s parking ticket policy and if you visit downtown Duluth and park in a parking spot, you will have to move your vehicle as time passes. Then you pay again for your new parking space.

Paying again for more time in your original parking spot will not prevent you from receiving a parking ticket. In fact, “filling the meter” can lead to a second, more expensive ticket.

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According to the City of Duluth, there is a $24 fine for parking at an expired or unpaid parking meter. The fine for “feeding the meter” and not moving your vehicle is $32. So whoever was driving the vehicle I witnessed racked up $56 in parking fees in less than 3 hours.

Speaking of Duluth parking tickets, a standard parking ticket costs $24. Here’s the full list of other parking violations in Duluth, along with the fines you’ll have to pay if you get a ticket:

Violations of $32

• Violation of the alternative side (calendar parking).
• 24 hour parking violation
• Resident parking zone permit
• Looking the wrong way
• Parking in the front yard
• Double parking
• Area “No parking” – indicated
• Area “No Parking” – temporary signs
• Exceeding the time limit in a paid parking (“feeding the meter”)
• Occupying a metered space for more than two hours without paying (“weighted meter”)
• Occupying two measured spaces (“parking across the line”)
• Backing into a sloping parking lot
• License plate missing
• Loading and unloading zone
• Truck zone
• In alley
• On a boulevard (i.e. between the street and the sidewalk)
• On sidewalk
• At zebra crossing
• Inside intersection
• For a driveway
• Within 7′ of a driveway or alley
• Within 10′ of a fire hydrant
• Within 20′ of the crosswalk
• Access to a fire station within 20′ of the driveway
• Within 100 feet of a stop sign or traffic control device
• Within 50′ of the nearest railroad crossing rail
• Within 75′ of a fire station driveway, if parked across the street and if properly signed
• Next to or opposite an excavation or obstruction of the street
• On government property
• On a bridge or in a tunnel
• Not parallel parked
• Not within 12 inches of a curb
• Front wheels not turned to the curb
• Non-current license plate tabs shown

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$36 violations

• Fire rose
• Keys left in the ignition
• Snow emergency violation
• Taxi stand
• Uncoupled trailer

$56 violations

• Bus stop
• Improper roadway clearance

$200 violations

• Parked in a space reserved for the physically handicapped