WEST BUECHEL, Ky. (WDRB) -- There was anger and even tears at a West Buechel Code Enforcement board meeting on Tuesday as disabled drivers, many of them elderly, asked city leaders for mercy.
"I think this is a sad state of affairs for the City of West Buechel," one of them said.
"Taking money from one single vehicle owner is fraud!" added another, Deborah Payton.
The complaints come months after the city amended an ordinance that gives West Buechel Code Enforcement more teeth to go after parking violations.
Paul Williams says it seems like the city is using that new ordinance to make money off minor infractions in private parking lots like those at West Buechel's Target, Kroger and Walmart stores. He and others say a code enforcement officer almost constantly stalks the lots for violations.
Williams says his disabled sister got a ticket for parking on the line at Walmart roughly two weeks ago.
"It's a scam, you know," Williams said before adding that her car wasn't blocking a fire lane or another disabled driver from parking in the adjacent handicapped parking spot.
Others who pleaded the code enforcement board for mercy said they were given $250 fines when their handicapped placards were expired — some by accident and some by just a couple of days.
"I knew I was handicapped, but I didn't follow up with my dates, and that's what happened," one woman, fined by West Buechel, told the code enforcement board through tears.
Attorney Jim Ballinger argued the harsh policy is hurting the city's most vulnerable like his client, Margie King. He says King quickly renewed her placard once she realized it had expired but was still assessed a fine in the Tuesday meeting. Her fine, along with others, was reduced from $250 to $100, but Ballinger and others still weren't happy with the outcome.
Upset drivers, many disabled, attend a Tuesday night meeting to address recent parking tickets. (WDRB Photo)
"It just seems like, that they are preying on people who can least afford it with these exorbitant fines," Ballinger said.
However, city attorney Mark Hall says the new rules are legal, were followed in the Tuesday meeting and similar ones have been enforced here for years.
"What's happening is not new," Hall said. "It occurs across the state of Kentucky, and it's authorized by state statute."
Despite what the city says, multiple people — including Payton and Ballinger — say they plan to take the issue to a higher court.
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