DENVER — Joshua Van Engen remains in parking ticket déjà vu.
"I continue to get tickets," he explained. "I am in this loop where the parking magistrate is not open and I cannot go down there to refute a ticket or get a permit."
The transactions related to tickets were moved online because COVID-19 shut down the city magistrate's office. The office remains closed. The online process for challenging tickets and ordering new permits, Van Engen says, is taking weeks. And as he waits, the tickets keep piling up.
"To stop getting ticketed in front of your own home," he says, requires "a three week to a month grace period before you can actually get a resolution online."
So far, Van Engen says he has received five tickets totaling "at least probably $300."
Permitting, he says, is a new requirement in his neighborhood in Curtis Park. As city offices began to reopen in July, ticketing and enforcement began their watch again. Denver7 reached out to Denver parking enforcement for a comment but have not heard back.
"I needed a permit for my car and I didn’t have a permit nor was I notified that I needed a permit," he said. However, "all these other offices are open but the parking magistrate is closed because of COVID."
He says new permits are on the way, hopefully solving his headache. But until they arrive, he will keep his eye out for new tickets.
"They have people out in person giving tickets but they don’t have somebody in-person to solve the problem for you quickly."
