By james art 
Parking advocate sheds light on alleged due process violations in Wilmington
Ken Grant, a parking advocate and public affairs professional, stood outside Wilmington’s city offices on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, to raise awareness about the fact that Delaware’s largest city has not filed a parking fine complaint until Justice of the Peace for one year.
Wochit
- Wilmington has long been plagued by parking enforcement challenges, with private businesses sometimes trying to enforce the law themselves.
- The latest issue surrounds 101 Dupont Place in downtown Wilmington, where the building’s owner, the Buccini-Pollin Group, put notes on people’s cars.
- Those paper notices are not permitted, city officials said. Nor are business owners allowed to hire their own towing companies to tow vehicles off public streets.
When you’re a business owner or employee in downtown Wilmington, you know parking will be a challenge.
But that doesn’t mean some entrepreneurs aren’t trying to take control of parking into their own hands.
About a year ago, the city had to remove illegally erected parking and towing signs in the 1300 block of N. Market St., placed there by a day care center on the busy downtown block. It is illegal for others to hire their own towing company to tow cars from public streets.
This year, Wilmington officials are educating one of the city’s largest developers about the illegality of trying to do its own enforcement.
Representatives of 101 Dupont Place, an apartment building owned and redeveloped by the Buccini-Pollin Group, say they were simply trying to warn residents who park their cars around the building for days at a time that they are at risk of a parking ticket or towing.
But after Delaware Online/The News Journal shared photos of these recent posts on vehicles, city officials said those messages are not allowed.
“BPG has been informed that the placement of signs on vehicles is improper and has been instructed to cease this activity,” John Rago, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Mike Purzycki, said in an emailed response to questions.
There is no special parking permit program available to BPG either, Rago said, although an employee does try to post a BPG vehicle with a notice printed on business letterhead indicating the car is “authorized” to park there. It was parked in a time-limited spot.
For many other businesses in Wilmington, especially small business owners, the idea of being lenient with the city is just a pipe dream.
One black business owner described having to move cars every two hours when they first opened almost two years ago. And when someone got a parking ticket, he had to take time off work to fight it.
Illegal enforcement attempts
Over the years, a handful of businesses have tried to impose their own parking restrictions, although that power rests with the government as enforcement is for public streets.
Last year, Little Folks Too Daycare, located at 1320 N. Market St., was called out for posting signs outside their business threatening to tow any vehicles parked in the “no-go” zone.
This was not the first time something like this had happened. In early 2020, Wilmington issued a cease and desist order against National Auto Movers LLC, located at 1000 S. Market St., for illegally towing cars in Wilmington. During that time, city officials warned both the Queen theater and the Residence Inn that the businesses could not hire towing companies to tow vehicles off public property.
While the city is the only one authorized to tow vehicles from public streets, the situation at 101 Dupont is different.
Rago said Wilmington does not have any evidence that BPG has towed vehicles from public streets. BPG is not accused of putting up signs restricting parking, but the developer left printed papers on the vehicles, which violates part of the city code, he said.
“No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial note in or upon any vehicle in a public place,” according to City Code Section 36-244.
Why it matters
Ken Grant, a longtime parking advocate in Wilmington, said that if some businesses in the city start being given “special deals” to set their own parking rules, “… it’s only fair for other businesses in the city to the same considerations apply. ”
Wilmington officials say the streets around 101 Dupont Place have been part of a “pilot program” for the past three years to evaluate the best downtown parking setup by converting a lane on the north side of the 100 block of W .10th Street in the parking lane.
That block drew Grant’s ire last year after he noticed that people parking outside DE.CO on 10th Street were not being enforced.
Rago said the city is in the process of installing permanent signs to restrict parking in that area. In the meantime, BPG was allowed to install temporary signs.
There is rarely any leniency for small business owners, instead the entrepreneurs and their employees are left to pay for parking, the tickets they receive and any loading and towing fines. Owners say it can be challenging to operate downtown, and for a business just starting out, those costs can make or break it.
Any advice? Contact Amanda Fries at [email protected] or by calling or texting 302-598-5507. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.