A woman is suing the town of Lantana, Florida, after she was charged with $100,000 in fines for parking “incorrectly” in her own driveway.
Sandy Martinez and the Institute for Justice announced the lawsuit in a news conference. They said that Martinez had been charged with over a year’s worth of daily fines for the minor offense of partially parking her car on her front lawn, a violation of town codes.
According to Section 6-30 of the Code of Ordinances of the Town of Lantana, “all off-street parking spaces, including driveways but not including parking spaces located in swale areas as permitted by section 17-34, shall be asphalt, concrete or block and shall be hard surfaced and in good repair in compliance with town codes.”
Martinez reportedly lives with her mother, her sister, and her three children — two of whom are now adults. Given the fact that, in total, the household contains four drivers, it is often the case that four vehicles need to be squeezed into the driveway as best they can. That predicament resulted in one of the four vehicles being parked partially on grass.
Martinez claimed that after she was first cited for the violation, she called the city. But an inspector never came to her residence. Then, more than a year later, she learned that she had been fined $250 a day for 407 days for the offense, totaling $101,750. The city also fined Martinez $65,000 more in fines for cosmetic violations, such as cracks in the driveway and a broken fence.
“I’ve been living here for 17 years now and I’m being fined over $160,000 for parking on my own property,” Martinez said during the press conference.
Her lawyer, Ari Bargil, argued the extraordinary fines plainly violate the Excessive Fines Clause of the Florida Constitution.
“The government doesn’t have the power to impose the financial death penalty for trivial violations,” he added.
Martinez told reporters that she repeatedly “left voicemail after voicemail” with the town to have someone come to her home, but eventually gave up trying after extended time “playing phone tag.”
According to WPTV-TV, the town offered to reduce the fines to $25,000 if Martinez agreed to pay them by Dec. 18, 2020 but reinstated the initial total after she refused to pay.
With the lawsuit, Martinez is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court that the fines imposed on her are unconstitutional.
I would be waiting with Mr. Mossburg for them to come and try to get it.
A perfect example of inferior superiors they don’t have a clue how normal every day people have to live and they think they have the power to control our every day aspects of life
One word – Democrats
She’s huwhite.
While I totally agree that the fines are outrageous, a neighborhood will look like trash in short order if other people start parking on their lawns too. Property values plummet………is that fair?
I had one neighbor stand on his desk and shoot at birds. This same neighbor planted a tree on the easement that eventually destroyed my shed. Another neighbor’s dog used to crash through my fence. This same neighbor used to drive his snowmobile through my front yard. They also parked a non running vehicle in front of my house for over 4 months. This same neighbor’s kid used to use my air conditioner for a trampoline. This is not counting the little things such as having my cars paint balled. Dogs pooping in my yard. Ya I called the police but the problems continued. One finally moved and the other had their house foreclosed. 10 years of hell – IS THAT FAIR?
The town of Lantana is 61 percent Democrat so there is the reason for the cock a mamie way the laws are carried out!
Pete..GREAT POST!!
Hey Skeezix , Apparently you DONT believe in the freedom to own your own property and park as you wish on that property…And you can be fined for CRACKS in the driveway?…..What kind of stupidity is that?….Why not fine the contractor who poured that driveway and didnt take precautions to stop cracking…Or the Cement company who didnt make their concrete strong enough?… You really think property values are going to go down because someone parked on the grass?….Dude just move into a private neighborhood if it bothers you so much that someone can do as they please on their own property when it harms no one else…Did you vote for Biden?
Concrete or rock the grass.
At this time it looks like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re
using on your blog?
Hey There. I discovered your blog the use of msn. That is a really smartly written article.
I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to learn more
of your useful information. Thanks for the post.
I’ll definitely comeback.
Wonderful web site. Plenty of useful info here. I’m sending it to a few buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious.
And obviously, thank you for your effort!
Hi colleagues, how is the whole thing, and what you desire
to say about this paragraph, in my view its genuinely awesome for me.
Simply wish to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your post is just nice and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject.
Well with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with
forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.
Excellent website. Plenty of helpful information here.
I am sending it to several pals ans additionally sharing in delicious.
And naturally, thanks in your sweat!
I am truly pleased to glance at this weblog posts which includes tons of valuable information, thanks for providing these kinds of
information.
Thanks for finally talking about > Woman Fined $160,000 for
Parking “Incorrectly” In Her Own Driveway hoodia diet
Pick the Money Lump Sum payout and you will obtain your prize in a a single-time payment.
You can also check your ticket to see if your numbers match
a single of the nine methods to win.
I like reading a peice that can obtain people to think.
As well, many thanks to get allowing for personally to affirmation!
Nice post. I used to be checking constantly this
blog and I’m impressed! Very helpful info specially the ultimate
part 🙂 I take care of such info much. I was looking for this certain info for a very lengthy time.
Thank you and best of luck.
A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment. I do believe that you ought to publish more about this topic, it might not be a taboo matter but
generally people don’t speak about such issues.
To the next! Best wishes!!
You truly make this seem very easy with your business presentation but
My loved one and i find this kind of matter
to get actually an issue that I think We might never
love. It seems also complex and incredibly broad to me.
I am looking forward for your future post, Sick try to get useful to it!
First of all I would like to say excellent blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind.
I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your head before writing.
I’ve had a difficult time clearing my mind in getting
my thoughts out. I truly do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10
to 15 minutes are lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any
suggestions or hints? Many thanks!
I every time spent my half an hour to read this website’s posts all the time along with a cup of
coffee.
Howdy, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of
spam responses? If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can recommend?
I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any support is very much appreciated.
Hi there, its nice paragraph concerning media print, we all know media is a fantastic source of
information.
Hello, I would like to subscribe for this website to
get most up-to-date updates, therefore where can i do it please help out.
Superb, what a weblog it is! This weblog presents valuable facts to us, keep it up.
Thanks in favor of sharing such a good idea, piece of writing is pleasant, thats why i have read it entirely
Hey there! I realize this is sort of off-topic but I needed to ask.
Does running a well-established website such as yours take a
lot of work? I am brand new to writing a blog but I do write in my diary on a daily basis.
I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my personal experience and
thoughts online. Please let me know if you have any recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring bloggers.
Thankyou!
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be actually something which I think
I would never understand. It seems too complex and very broad for me.
I’m looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all people you actually know what you are speaking
approximately! Bookmarked. Please also visit my site
=). We could have a hyperlink change arrangement between us
Wow that was strange. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked
submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all
that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say wonderful blog!
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for
website
I simply couldn’t go away your web site prior
to suggesting that I really enjoyed the usual
info an individual supply to your guests? Is gonna be again regularly to inspect new posts
I’m not sure why but this site is loading incredibly slow for me.
Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end?
I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
This information is worth everyone’s attention.
Where can I find out more?
Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really
make my blog shine. Please let me know where you
got your theme. With thanks
Wonderful article! We will be linking to
this particularly great post on our site.
Keep up the great writing.
Have you ever considered publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other sites?
I have a blog centered on the same subjects you discuss and would
really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my
subscribers would enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel
free to send me an e mail.
Right away I am going away to do my breakfast,
afterward having my breakfast coming over again to read
additional news.
Great article. I’m going through many of these issues as
well..
I acquired more new stuff on this weight-loss issue. A single issue is that good nutrition is very vital whenever dieting. A huge reduction in junk food, sugary food, fried foods, sugary foods, beef, and bright flour products may perhaps be necessary. Having wastes bloodsuckers, and harmful toxins may prevent ambitions for fat loss. While certain drugs for the short term solve the situation, the unpleasant side effects are usually not worth it, and so they never provide more than a non permanent solution. It can be a known fact that 95 of fad diets fail. Many thanks for sharing your thinking on this web site.
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays..