LBPD Ticketed Vehicles on Shore Rd. During Snow Emergency

Numerous vehicles parked on Shore Road were issued tickets during the city’s declared snow emergency last week, according to the Long Beach Police Department.

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The emergency, which was in effect from 5 p.m. Jan 2 to 12 p.m. Jan. 4, prohibited parking on six routes in order to help facilitate snow plowing and maintain open roads, especially for emergency vehicles to pass. The routes included Shore Road between Long Beach and Maple boulevards, West Park Avenue between New York Avenue and Nevada Street, and Park Place north of Park Avenue. Last week’s storm dropped 7.7 inches of snow on Long Beach.

Lt. Eric Cregeen, a spokesman for the Long Beach Police Department, told Patch that during the snow emergency police officers issued a number of summonses to vehicles parked on Shore Road, although he did not provide an exact number, and he noted that all other snow emergency routes in town were in compliance, in that no vehicles were parked that would obstruct the plows.

“Shore Road is the most densely populated area of town, including a large geriatric population who rely on city buses for transportation as well as ambulance service,” Cregeen said. “The summonses were issued to ensure compliance to the snow emergency.”

Prior to the storm’s arrive late last Thursday, the city posted an announcement about the snow emergency on its website that stated: “In coordination with the Department of Public Works, the police department will operate in such a manner as to remove the vehicles with the assistance of the owners/operators and as a last resort summons and tow vehicles to another location that will permit the successful removal of snow from all snow emergency routes.”

After the storm last Friday, Patch posted a question on Facebook asking readers about the conditions of the roads in their neighborhoods. One resident wrote, claiming police were writing “hundreds and hundreds” of parking tickets Friday, and he indicated that his car was ticketed while parked on Shore Road.

“I know it is a Snow Emergency Route but this was after 11 a.m.,” he wrote.

The resident called the summonses “a total waste of resource,” and wrote: “Everyone is going to contest them. There were better uses of our city's staff than trying to make money on us that will eventually cost more in time and effort to dismiss.”

Cregeen said that in addition to the announcement on the city’s website of the snow emergency, the city notified residents of it through Robo phone calls, social media and text alerts, and police officers made several loud speaker announcements from their patrol cars prior to issuing summonses.