Could you clarify the city’s loading-zone policy? A meter reader told me that the city changed its policy a year ago. The “Commercial Loading” signs no longer apply, but will be left there. The meter reader said that anyone can park in the loading zone for any purpose, for 10 minutes. – Jon Gray
When it comes to parking enforcement, the city gives no quarter.
Until now.
So here’s your moment of minimal municipal munificence.
Anyone can now park in the yellow commercial loading zones downtown to run a quick errand.
By quick, it’s 10 minutes tops. No exceptions.
That was confirmed by a call to Durango’s Parking Division.
“As long as it’s commercial use, you can park there,” said the nice person who picked up the phone.
In the interest of transparency, Action Line won’t identify the person. That, and the person didn’t want his or her name in the paper.
Regardless, the city now views “commercial use” as applying to semis and Subarus alike.
“You can park for free, run in to purchase something quickly or drop off something. Technically, that’s ‘commercial,’ so that’s allowed now,” the parking agent said.
“But it’s for 10 minutes or less. Parking enforcement officers will time any vehicle in the yellow zone and write tickets if it’s over that time limit.”
Of course. In Durango and everywhere, there’s a high cost for free.
But, hey, it’s certainly citizen-centric instead of semi-specific.
Granted, the current city code city code states that yellow zones are specifically for “commercial freight,” defined as “supplies, goods, foodstuffs or beverages.”
A cup of coffee and a scone would certainly qualify as foodstuffs and beverages, right?
So truck on down to downtown for free freight fare.
Just don’t blame Action Line if you get a ticket. And you will.
It’s impossible to get anything done around here in less than 10 minutes, especially if you run into a friend or neighbor downtown.
You’ll want to chitchat while the car is running, thus the term “idle gossip.”
When it comes to free streetside parking, please “curb” your enthusiasm.
From the Department of Far-Flung Correspondents comes a pleasant dispatch from the Mediterranean.
Last week’s column on weather forecasting including a quote from Bob Dylan (“you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”) and Patrick L. Young (“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.”)
“Dear Action Line,” the salutation begins. “I am delighted to see I made the Durango Herald today and indeed for the first time in my life, I see my name in the same sentence as Bob Dylan. The latter was a particularly pleasant surprise as I perused your pithy article over breakfast.”
Thus, we add Patrick L. Young to the ever-growing list of Our Good Friends.
In case you didn’t know, Patrick is a Really Big Deal in the financial technology world. He delivers keynote speeches and provides consulting all over the world.
“Hope all is well in Durango,” he wrote. “I see you are chillier even in the daytime than Malta where I live nowadays.”
Just for the record, the isle of Malta (between Tunisia and the “toe” of Italy) is 6,168 miles from Durango, thus proving that it’s a small world.
No word from Bob Dylan ... yet.
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can ask for anonymity if you’ve had your 10 minutes of fame.
