{"id":299008,"date":"2021-07-14T01:54:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T22:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/100k-for-parking-on-your-own-property-and-other-town-code-outrages\/"},"modified":"2021-07-14T01:54:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T22:54:07","slug":"100k-for-parking-on-your-own-property-and-other-town-code-outrages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/100k-for-parking-on-your-own-property-and-other-town-code-outrages\/","title":{"rendered":"#100K for parking on your own property . . . and other town-code outrages"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#100K for parking on your own property . . . and other town-code outrages<\/strong>”
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The\u00a0town of Lantana, Fla., is \u00addemanding that Sandy Martinez pay $165,000 in fines, which is nearly four times her annual income and more than half what her house is worth. The \u00admunicipal-code violations that led to those fines are decidedly less impressive: driveway cracks, a storm-damaged fence and cars parked on her own property in an \u201cunapp<\/a>roved\u201d manner.<\/p>\n

Martinez argued that Lantana\u2019s absurdly disproportionate response to her trivial infractions violates the state constitution\u2019s ban on \u201cexcessive fines.\u201d The Institute for Justice, which represents Martinez, said the case epitomizes \u201ctaxation by citation,\u201d the perverse practice of using code enforcement to raise revenue rather than protect public safety.<\/p>\n

This week, Lantana, a town of about 12,000 people in Palm Beach County, asked 15th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Donald Hafele to dismiss Martinez\u2019s lawsuit. Hafele \u00addeclined. \u201cIt\u2019s surreal that the town still refuses to admit that what it\u2019s doing to me is abusive and unfair,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

The fines imposed on Martinez stem mostly from the way she and her family solved a parking puzzle. Martinez has a car \u2014 so do her two adult children and her sister. But her street has no curbs and isn\u2019t wide enough to accommodate parked cars.<\/p>\n

Since Martinez and her relatives couldn\u2019t legally or safely park on the street, the driveway seemed like the only viable option. When all four cars were parked at Martinez\u2019s home, two of them sometimes extended slightly beyond the driveway, which is flanked by her lawn and a walkway.<\/p>\n

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