Town officials this month upheld a $75 ticket for a local man who had parked in front of a fire hydrant on Main Street.
During an appeal hearing at Town Hall, Bryan Bourdier told members of the Parking Commission that it was “a little unfair” that he got the ticket, in part because his girlfriend was in the car while he ran in to Organika Kitchen to pickup a to-go order.
“Let’s say if something was to break down and they actually need the hydrant, someone from the car probably could have moved the car,” Bourdier told the Commission at its Jan. 10 meeting.
When Commissioner Peter Ogilvie asked why Bourdier’s girlfriend didn’t pick up the food, he responded, “She could have but she was on the phone.”
Ogilvie, Chairman Keith Richey, Secretary Pam Crum and Commissioners Chris Hering and Stuart Stringfellow voted 5-0 to uphold the fine.
“I just have to tell you that that is a pretty serious thing, obstructing a fire hydrant, and I would have though that at 9:32 there would have been more parking available, including behind this building [Town Hall] and Vine Cottage, down Locust to the Locust Parking Lot, and in the Park Street Lot which is the one behind the movie theater, anywhere behind Main Street, Morse Court Parking Lot,” Richey told Bourdier. “There are usually about 200 spots at 9:30. Before 10 o’clock there are a number of parking spots.”
Bourdier received the ticket at 9:32 a.m. and said that the enforcement officer hadn’t started issuing the citation until he returned to the vehicle.
“She made me wait,” he said.
Richey, in summarizing Bourdier’s appeal argument during the hearing, said, “So you are really not saying you weren’t guilty, you are saying you were guilty but you are asking for a plea of mercy.”
The chairman added, “Good luck with that … I have to tell you, that wasn’t much of a defense.”
Richey told the appellant that although he’s surprised to hear that a ticket was issued with someone in the car, “the definition of parking is parking.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with whether someone is behind wheel or not behind the wheel, and you are just not supposed to park in front of a fire hydrant, particularly when you are right down the road from the fire station,” Richey said.