Conflicting information on no parking signs becomes costly issue for residents in North Oakland

Conflicting information on no parking signs recently became a costly situation for people living in North Oakland.

Residents who live on Melwood Avenue tell Channel 11 they had their cars towed earlier this week and were ticketed $131 — more than quadruple the cost of an average ticket — after no parking signs posted on their street led to major confusion.

“The construction was supposed to end on June 18th and the no parking ended on June 18th and then June 18th came and went… and people started slowly parking here again and they weren’t getting ticketed,” said resident Amelia Cevese.

When our crew was in the area on Wednesday, we saw a no parking sign valid from April 8 to May 19, but the address listed is Bethoven Street — so the notice is expired and doesn’t have the correct location on it. Up and down Melwood, there are several different signs, some with current restrictions and others with expired information.

“I saw my car was actively getting towed and then I asked the towing person and also the policeman who ticketed my car if there was anything I could do, and the policeman said that these signs have been up for weeks,” said resident Arrianne Alfonso.

Alfonso and Cevese said they hadn’t parked in front of their home for weeks, adhering to the restriction signs, but once they noticed they had expired and that other cars had begun parking again on the street they thought it was safe.

Channel 11 reached out to People’s Gas, which is overseeing the infrastructure project. After our call, they contacted the construction company to have the signs corrected. People’s Gas did confirm to us that parking will be limited in the area until likely mid-August as they work to replace outdated gas lines.

“We will continue to do that if there is anything that we can do to clarify where the restrictions apply when they apply and make it less disruptive for residents.”

Residents tell us that while they understand the importance of the project, the inconvenience and the cost of the mix-up has caused a lot of headaches.

“It’s really frustrating because the only other place you can park they have North Craig closed now too, so the only place you can park is on Centre.”

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