Philadelphia Parking Authority dispenses some grace

Drivers who park too long on Philadelphia streets soon could have more grace time before having to pay a parking ticket.

There is, however, a catch.

A Philadelphia City Council committee has approved a bill that would waive unpaid parking ticket penalties for 10 days instead of adding the penalty when mailing a reminder of an unpaid ticket.

Along with the grace period, there will be higher fines for those who do not pay immediately, said Vince Fennerty, executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

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“The bill also increases the first penalty from $20 to $25 and the second penalty from $25 to $30,” he said. “This is a reasonable increase because the penalties will be on the ticket as well as the notice of violation.”

Often, people say, they don’t receive the initial ticket. They contend others steal tickets and put them on their own cars to fool parking authority enforcement officers into believing the car has already been ticketed.

The bill is expected to get final approval in December.

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