Community Corner

Is It Ever OK to Save a Shoveled Out Parking Space?

Where do you stand on the practice of saving spaces? Should it be permitted? Should police take a tougher stance against it? Are there circumstances under which the law should simply turn a blind eye?

You slaved for hours to clear an on-street parking space, hurling back-breaking amounts of snow, only to leave home on a quick errand and have it taken by someone else.

If that has ever happened to you and you weren't at least a little bit annoyed, you have more patience than most people.

In fact, some might say you have the patience of a saint.

In urban areas, where parking is typically at a premium, snowstorms have led to "parking wars," and some people apparently believe the use of chairs and other items to save spaces helps to keep the peace. That, and they feel entitled to "hold" the spaces they worked so hard to clear.

If that isn't OK, is it understandable?

Is it equally understandable if someone who's visiting a neighborhood moves a chair or other item in order to park in a space that's been "reserved?"

Technically, the use of items such as lawn chairs to save spaces on public streets is against the law. But most police turn a blind eye to the practice, as is evidenced by the number of chairs, garbage cans, recycling bins and other items currently littering the sides of streets all throughout the more densely populated parts of the Lehigh Valley.

Where do you stand on the practice of saving spaces? Should it be permitted? Should police take a tougher stance against it? Are there circumstances under which the law should simply turn a blind eye?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments.


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