I parked in a vacent lot that has no signage whatsoever, and received
a $110 ticket from Simi Valley Police Dept.(CA.) There are no 'private
property' signs, no 'no parking' signs anywhere. Can the city legally
cite me? Where do I find law that can prove my case?

---

Request for Question Clarification by missy-ga on 04 Aug 2005 10:17 PDT

When you say "vacant lot", do you mean a paved lot or a vacant
residential lot?  Were you in a business district?

-- Missy

Hello veloxmortis-ga,

I found a PowerPoint of the Simi Valley PD that tells you how to
contest a parking citation.

You must obtain the Administrative Review Form from City Hall. You
have to do this within 21 days of the citation. You can also call with
questions to the Department of General Services 1-805-583-6736.

Parking a vehicle on an unpaved surface is prohibited. So, if the
vacant lot was unpaved, that may be why you got the ticket even though
there was no signage. Also, parking on public grounds is also
sometimes illegal if there is no signage.

What I would do once you obtain the form is to go back to where your
vehicle was parked and take pictures of the entire area. If none of
the above conditions apply and you have pictures proving this, it may
help you contest the citation. Once you have taken pictures of the
empty area, re-park your car where it was located and take pictures
again. Provide those pictures with the Administrative Review Form.

http://www.ci.simi-valley.ca.us/Parking_Enforcement__10-7-03_.pdf
(PDF of Parking Enforcement) This has all the codes and laws about why
you would get the ticket. Find the citation code on your ticket,
compare it to this site, and if you still feel the ticket is illegal,
follow the above steps to dispute the citation.


://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=Simi+Valley+Police+Dept&btnG=Search
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=how+to+contest+a+parking+ticket+Simi+Valley+Police+Dept&btnG=Search

If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this
further.

Nenna-GA
Google Answers Researcher

Try going to this website http://www.ticketassassin.com/ Im not sure
if it will work for a parking ticket but its worth a try.

This site may help you understand which type of offense it could have
been, and certainly will help understand the attitude of the city
police and town fathers.
But it also tells you were to complain.
Good luck.

Hmm? I forgot to add the link.  Good work Nenna.

Veloxmortis, 
If misery likes company, check this from Nenna's Google link:

http://compuserb.com/svpdcop1/

Is $ 110  for an off the road parking offense a market price in Cal.,
or justifiable?  Ditto for making it an offense to park on unpaved
ground?

Where does Simi Valley publish its price list for violations?

Anyway, Myoarin