CLEARFIELD – Reports of dishonesty have the members of Clearfield Borough Council reviewing their policy on granting handicapped parking.
At Thursday’s work session, residents Tammy and Darrin Shugarts questioned the council members about their policies on approving requests for handicapped parking. Tammy Shugarts said that on her street, there are two handicapped parking spaces with only three houses between them.
She said she doesn’t understand how residents are getting approval for the handicapped parking, when they do not have handicapped placards or handicapped license plates on their vehicles. Shugarts said it was her understanding that a handicapped parking place in front of a house does not mean the parking spot is reserved only for the resident of that house. She said she was told the spot can be used by anyone who has a handicapped parking placard or handicapped license plate. However, Shugarts said the residents with the handicapped parking in front of their houses are treating the parking spots as if they are exclusively theirs.
Shugarts said she has a handicapped placard for her mother. She said she hung the placard in her car and parked in the spot. Shugarts said the resident began calling to complain that someone took her parking spot. Shugarts alleges that she was harassed and threatened because she had parked in the handicapped spot, even though her vehicle had a handicapped placard displayed.
Shugarts also said that both the houses with handicapped parking spots designated, also have off-street parking. She asked what process the council uses in determining who can get the handicapped parking in front of their houses and who doesn’t. She asked if someone, either from council or from the police department, goes to the properties when requests for handicapped parking are made, to ensure there is no off-street parking available for the residents.
She said some of the residents are misusing the placards and are giving them to family members and visitors so they can park their cars in the spaces.
“Where does it end? Is there a limit on how many handicapped parking spaces can be on one street,” Shugarts said. “You could have an entire street that’s nothing but handicapped parking.”
Police Chief Vincent McGinnis said all the residents who apply for handicapped parking are told that those spots are not exclusively for their use. He said they are told that anyone with a handicapped placard or license plate can park in that spot. He said this particular resident has been told more than once that the parking spot is open to any handicapped driver.
Borough Operations Manager Leslie Stott said each application is reviewed by the chief of police and that several members of the council had gone to the residence to check that the parking spot was needed.
McGinnis said an off-street parking area was only recently built at one of the homes. When the sign was originally approved, there was no off-street parking.
Stott said all the handicapped parking spots in the borough have been mapped, when the borough street crew had to replace parking signs and road signs to meet the new reflectivity requirements. She said some of the signs have been in place for a long time and the borough will be reviewing the parking to make sure they are still needed. She said there is presently no limit on how many parking spaces on a street can be designated as handicapped parking.
She said the landlord had originally brought in an application for one of the handicapped parking places on Shugarts’ street and brought the tenant’s application for the handicapped placard with the application for the parking spot. She said as the council reviews the handicapped parking policy, they will require the residents to submit proof that they have the placards or a handicapped license plate.
However, McGinnis said part of the problem is with the placards themselves. He said the placards are registered to the person, not one particular vehicle. He said Shugarts is right to have concerns and the policy needs to be reviewed.
