Dear Action Line: What’s up with the parking lot behind the Gaslight theater? This lot has not been charging for over a year and suddenly everyone is getting a $60 ticket. No notice or warning. Same thing with the lot on the northeast corner of Fifth Street and Main Avenue. Are these public lots or private? – Perturbed Parker
Dear Perturbed: Well, this is a revolting development. Action Line is definitely not alone in having used the once-free lot just south of the Gaslight Twin Cinema. How many times has Action Line returned in the dark to a vehicle parked in this lot, laughing, sobbing or fearing every shadow after a particularly poignant picture show?
Well, nothing is free anymore, if it ever was, and these lots are no exception. We’re a big city now. Just take a look at that new huge hotel hovering over this area from East Second Avenue.
The city of Durango had several complaints from people getting “tickets” and wants to assure residents that these are not city government-owned lots.
The two lots are owned by Jackson & Jackson and are part of what’s been known for a half-century as Rio Grande Land. In the 1970s, a far-sighted developer took a chance that the train would catch on as a tourist mecca, and that gamble is still paying big dividends. Rio Grande Land is pretty much everything south of College Drive along Main Avenue and the half-block south of Fifth Street between Main and the alley. Other than the train depot, it’s all Jackson & Jackson.
Durango city government managers, reacting to citizen complaints about the $60 fees, asked Steve Barkley, Durango code enforcement officer, to check out the situation.
The lots have been pay-for-use for a while. But because compliance was very low, Barkley said, Jackson & Jackson recently began using a management company, Vanguard Parking, to oversee the lots and enforce fees. That’s where the $60 tickets – more like fines or fees, really – are coming from.
Both lots are properly signed for fees, how to obtain parking permits, and time allowances, etc., Barkley determined. Private lots are governed by city codes, and are allowed to charge fees for uses such as parking.
A problem arose, however, when Barkley discovered that “during my investigation, we did not find a valid business license for Vanguard Parking services. … I have reached out to the business to have them obtain that license with the city of Durango.” Barkley later reported that Vanguard has done so.
As Action Line was reaching deadline, another reader email arrived, saying that people parking at T’s Smokehouse and Grill’s designated spots, toward the southeast of the Gaslight lot, were also being “mailed a $50 ticket from Florida with a threat that they would be sent to collections if the ticket was not paid promptly.” It was speculated that a camera was capturing the plates of the vehicles entering the area, and not making the distinction between the T’s Smokehouse spots and the rest of the lot.
Barkley advised that those who believe they have received a parking ticket/fee in error should call the company at (954) 228-3280 or by email at disputes@vanguardparking.co, and talk to a customer service representative.
Hopefully that works, and hopefully these issues will be smoothed out as Vanguard figures out what it’s doing. Hopefully.
Action Line received this from a reader: “The (Americans With Disabilities Act) allows anyone over 55 and certainly anyone with needs to ride an e-bike anywhere a regular bike is allowed. Check … for confirmation.”
Action Line’s research shows this broad statement isn’t correct, particularly with regard to age, but the line between what’s legal and illegal on various lands appears to be murky and shifting.
Jeff Christenson with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s state office, based in Dolores, said in a written response that federal buildings and facilities (which includes trails) are covered not by the ADA, but by the ABA, or Architectural Barriers Act.
“There is nothing related directly to age as far as the ABA (or ADA, I believe) goes,” Christenson said. “If someone has a disability and wants to seek a ‘Reasonable Modification Request’ to use an e-bike where it is not otherwise allowed, they can do so by contacting their local BLM office.”
So for now, it appears that e-bikes and other devices that are not specifically built for the mobility-impaired are not legal on most natural surface trails on BLM and Forest Service land, unless the agency has made an exception.
Action Line’s column last week covered the issue of e-bikes on natural surface trails, and offered some suggestions as to where they are allowed.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Oh, and those six to eight spots along the curve between the Gaslight and train depot? Those belong to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
