DC to forgive some blizzard parking tickets

Washington, D.C., officials are waving parking tickets that were issued on the first day of the blizzard last week that dumped as much as two feet of snow on the nation’s capital and surrounding areas, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said Thursday. 

D.C. officials came under fire for issuing more than $1 million in parking tickets during the blizzard, which was dubbed Winter Storm Jonas. 

Bowser said Thursday that tickets issued on the day the storm was approaching the metro D.C. area will be voided. 

“Citations issued for parking on snow emergency routes on Friday, January 22nd will be voided. #DCDigOut,” she tweeted. 

Citations issued for parking on snow emergency routes on Friday, January 22nd will be voided. #DCDigOut

— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) January 28, 2016

“Residents who have paid their citations for violations that occurred on Friday, January 22nd will receive a refund. #DCDigOut,” Bowser continued. 

Bowswer said she was reversing the tickets from the first day of the storm because “some who received citations Fri. may not have known about the parking restriction, or may have been out preparing for the storm.” 

{mosads}”This ticket dismissal is one small way that we can continue to help each other recover from the storm,” she tweeted. 

The tickets that totaled $1 million in fines were issued between Friday and Wednesday under a snow emergency that was declared by the D.C. government on Friday ahead of the storm. 

Officials with D.C. Department of Public Works said there were 5,284 tickets issued during the storm, at a cost of $250 each, according to a report on Wednesday from the Washington Post.  

Another 673 vehicles were towed during the snow storm, according to the report. 

The paper said the D.C. government collected $1,321,000 in fines and $67,300 in towing fees during the snow emergency. 

Another $9,100 was collected from towing fees for moving abandoned 91 cars, according to the report.