Beware of the Barnacle: City to Crack Down on Parking Violations

It’s been more than two hours since you left your car parked in that space, but no one will care, right? What’s the worst that could happen? Another ticket to remove from the windshield and then you can drive off into the sunset, down Lincolnway? … Wrong! If you have three or more unpaid parking tickets, you better be aware of the barnacle!

The City of Cheyenne is on the hunt, to find vehicles with three or more parking violations and making certain that the driver of that vehicle pays up. At the Aug. 8^th City Council meeting, Mayor Patrick Collins announced there’s a total of 3,400 unpaid parking tickets, in the amount of $204,000.

Therefore, in an effort to collect those unpaid fines, vehicles that are repeatedly ticketed will be found and immobilized, using the barnacle system.

Mayor Collins shared, the usage of the barnacle is a convenient method to help the city collect what it’s owed. “Instead of just putting barnacles on the very worst offenders, we’re going to apply that to anybody who has more than three parking tickets.”

So don’t be alarmed if you find the bright yellow apparatus covering your windshield.

Nevertheless, considering the safety of your vehicle, the barnacle can only be applied to windshields that aren’t cracked. For vehicles with cracked windshields, the mayor said, “We have the old-fashioned boot.”

Ted Miazga, with the Cheyenne Police Department, said to have the barnacle removed from your windshield is quite simple.

“The vehicle owner can pay their fines by calling the number listed on the device or by scanning the QR code. When payment is received, a release code is generated, and the individual returns the Barnacle to a drop box location,” Miazga shared.

All the same, Mayor Collins said he would rather people try working with the city by getting their parking tickets paid, instead of having to face the Barnacle.

“My hope would be, if you have more than three parking tickets, call us. We’ll [love to set up] a payment plan for you,” the mayor shared. “We’ll work [to do] whatever we can to help you, but if we find your vehicle, we’re going to immobilize it until you pay your tickets.”

As parking administration manager, Miazga said violators will have 15 days to pay their ticket before a late fee is incurred. He also mentioned penalty fees will vary, depending on the violation.

Although many have echoed their disdain towards the city’s proactive approach to collect unpaid parking fines, Mayor Collins said the key reason for cracking down on parking violations is to help the downtown area flourish.

“We have parking regulations because we want to turn those parking spaces [over] so people can park downtown as customers,” the mayor revealed. “[But] when employees park [their vehicles for] an extended [amount of] time, it limits the amount of parking for customers, [which] makes our downtown merchants less successful. So that’s why we’re trying to move on this, to make sure we have a place [for people] to park, and so that downtown is more financially viable.

Story by the City of Cheyenne