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New gadgets make parking laws harder to coast by Photo by Steve Johnson Scott Hall of Diamond Parking Services takes down the license of a car parked on Front Street with his handheld computer. The new gadget replaces the old chalk-and-cart method of tracking overtime parkers in Medford. BY KELLY STEWART People who routinely evade chalk-wielding parking monitors in downtown Medford -- and think they're getting away with it -- should think again. The city is on to you. In fact, Medford parking monitors traded in their trusty chalk sticks July 1 for hand-held computers that track tardy parking. "It's more efficient, a lot cheaper and easier," said Mike Webber, administrative assistant for the Medford Urban Renewal Agency. With the chalk system, people could easily violate the city's 750-foot parking ordinance. The ordinance states that once a car is moved from its initial parking space, it cannot be parked within 750 feet (or three blocks) of that space longer than the time limited by official signs for parking. Parking time is usually limited to one or two hours in downtown Medford. Monitors who dragged chalk on tires didn't have the time to track the license plates and locations of cars to efficiently enforce the ordinance. Now, every space in downtown Medford is coded by number in the monitors' computers. The monitors simply punch in vehicle license plate numbers and the parking space code, and the computer spits out a ticket if the car has been parked in the area too long. Because the tickets are self-printing and monitors cover downtown by foot, the process is quicker. And it's more service-oriented, Webber said. "They talk to people and explain the rules," he said. Monitors are paid a monthly flat fee, Webber said. They do not have to fulfill a quota of tickets and do not receive commission on parking fines. Diamond Parking Service is monitoring downtown parking. Two monitors stroll through downtown each day, looking for culprits, said Madison Taylor, city manager for Diamond Parking Service. "It hasn't really increased the number of tickets," Taylor said. "Over time, we'll see people conforming to parking laws or start giving out more tickets." Medford is following the lead of other cities who have abandoned old-school parking patrol scooters and chalk for computers. "Scooters are expensive and dangerous," Webber said. The new system is necessary to keep downtown workers from hogging spaces reserved for customers, Webber said. "This keeps customer space open for customers," he said, adding that customers who don't find parking spots downtown will be less likely to come back. Although Medford recently built a downtown parking garage to ease parking troubles, Webber said people would rather park on the street near their workplace than walk from the garage. He said 270 people are leasing business space in the garage, but only 200 people usually park there. Webber said people who work downtown need to park in their designated business lots, rather than parking on the street. The computerized system may force workers to park in designated lots because moving their vehicles three blocks every two hours is a hassle, Webber said. "Ticketing customers is not our goal," he said. "It's keeping spaces turning over." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA