Street Sweeping Parking Fines Will Be Handed Out Starting July 8 In Denver

DENVER (CBS4) - The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure in Denver cited drivers parked in street sweeping lanes on Tuesday with one final warning. The agency will start handing out fines on Wednesday, July 8 as the agency began enforcement of that parking policy on July 1.

"At first I was really confused because I know they haven't been doing any ticketing recently," said Clara Davis, a Denver resident who got a citation recently. "Then I open the ticket and it was a $0 amount, so I realized this must have been a warning."

The enforcement from the City and County of Denver stopped in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Stay-at-Home Order. But the DOTI wrote 3,000 warnings last Wednesday as the policy resumed. Street sweeping did not take place on July 2 or July 3 because of employee furloughs and the observance of the July 4th holiday, according to a news release.

"Parking has been like the best ever because I think, you know, everyone is leaving at different times, now that everyone is working from home," Davis told CBS4 on Tuesday about the situation in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. "It's starting to get a little bit more competitive again, now that things are easing up and businesses are opening."

CBS4 noticed several warnings on cars along Sherman Street Tuesday morning, many remained in the afternoon untouched by drivers between 9th and 11th Avenues. Residents say as they return to work at the office and notice others doing the same or having that option, it makes sense that the city would also return to regular parking rules before the pandemic.

"Now I am definitely ready, I think it's great they gave the notices obviously, I'm definitely going to start putting that reminder in my phone now so I am aware," Davis said. "Every different day, it's a different street so you got to stay on top of it but yeah, very thankful that they at least gave us that notice."

Street sweepers collected 75,555 cubic yards of dirt in 2019 off of Denver streets, according to city staff. A step that keeps debris out of the air and water. Staff say drivers should move cars to the other side of their street or look for nearby parking to avoid a ticket. Starting Wednesday, the standard fine of $50 will be cited to any driver in violation of the street sweeping restrictions.

"It was really nice, the meters and everything was open too, like that was great for people visiting but I do think it's fair things are starting to normalize," Davis said.

You can see schedules near you on Pocketgov and setup a reminder based on the rules in that neighborhood.