Boise County Sheriff's deputies crack down on parking violations at one local park

BOISE COUNTY, Idaho (CBS2) — Robie Creek Park has become a hugely popular spot in recent years, but that means parking has become a growing problem. Now law enforcement is cracking down on enforcement of parking violations.

There are five signs in a row that all say 'no parking on pavement.' On the weekends, deputies are seeing more people ignoring those signs, which can be a real hazard.

"As soon as the weekend hits, by noon, this becomes a zoo," said Corporal David Gomez with the Boise County Sheriff's Office.

He says once one person decides to park partially on the pavement, others will too.

"Before you know it, what happens is both sides of the road have cars all the way on the pavement all the way lined up and down going around that corner," Gomez said.

And that's dangerous for people who live in the area and emergency vehicles.

"So if they need to come out or we need more people to go in for an actual fire, any emergency, anybody having a medical issue, they can't get through," Gomez said. "And the locals, it's super scary to them because it's one-lane traffic, you got to wait until a car comes all the way through before you can go that way."

He said they'll often see a car driving down the road and rub against a parked car, or hit a mirror because the road is so narrow.

So the Boise County Sheriff’s Office has to start cracking down on enforcement

Gomez was just down there writing tickets a couple of weekends ago.

"As I'm parked here writing tickets, people see me writing tickets with my overhead lights on, and they're still parking in no parking zones or just making up their own parking," Gomez said.

That exact thing happened to a friend of Brian Patton, who just got a ticket after ignoring the signs.

"And he told his wife, I'm going to get a ticket if I park here and they did anyway, so I guess he didn't care," Patton said.

Gomez says the Boise County Sheriff's Office has a deputy dedicated specifically to enforcing parking violations there just about all weekend long in the summer.

"It's over 100, might be over 200 tickets that we've written right here," Gomez said.

One ticket will run you $116.

They’ll even tow cars

"We don't actually want to strand people here," Gomez said. "So we have a tow truck come, pick up the car, do a couple of parade laps, which shows everybody else that we're serious and then people just have to come pay to get their car off the tow truck."

To get the car down will cost you $200.

"We love people to enjoy themselves but we want them to do it safely," Gomez said. "We're not out here just being jerks writing tickets, we're solving a problem."

Gomez suggests always having a backup plan that way if parking is full, you can check out another nearby park instead.

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