Finding Legal History in the Charleston School of Law, Sol Blatt Jr. Library On July 16, 1935, the world’s first parking meters were placed, on a trial basis, on fourteen blocks in Oklahoma City. The proliferation in automobile traffic (the number of cars in Oklahoma City had grown from 3,000 to 500,000 between 1913 and 1930) had created appalling traffic congestion in the major American cities. Worse, from the point of view of downtown merchants, was the fact that those who worked downtown took up all the parking, forcing potential customers to park at a distance from downtown retail establishments. The colorful Carl C. Magee, a reporter had helped uncover the Teapot Dome Scandal, decided that what was needed was a windable inexpensive timer to time the use of each parking space. Magee enlisted the aid of the engineering department at Oklahoma State University in building workable prototypes, and when the first 175 test meters were successful, the city placed meters all over downtown Oklahoma City. Magee thereupon incorporated the Dual Parking Meter Company, which manufactured what came to be called the “Park-O-Meter.” Seeing that Oklahoma City had solved its parking problem, that the five cents an hour that it cost to park defrayed the cost of installing the meters, and most importantly, that the scheme stimulated impressive growth in the value of downtown commercial property, other cities were quick to follow Oklahoma City’s example. Naturally, this innovation engendered litigation. One argument made by those opposed to the “mechanical policemen” was that charging for parking would deprive the public of free use of the streets. As enunciated by the famous English jurist, Lord Ellenborough, in Rex v. Cross, “No one can make a stable-yard of the King’s highway.” However, the courts have held that parking is not an incident to travel, and may be regulated by imposing a parking meter fee. Abutting owners argued that meter ordinances deprived them of their rights of ingress and egress without due process. But these rights have been held to be subject to regulation. Fortunately for those who admire the lowly meter, courts have held that parking ordinances are permissible under municipalities’ power to regulate traffic and parking. The important distinction is that temporary stopping is allowable without paying a parking fee. Parking, on the other hand, is not incident to travel and can be regulated. It is interesting to contemplate whether, with the development of apps such as “Parking Spot,” which will find you a parking space, technology has brought us full circle. Will app users cause congestion and even collisions as they face off with other app users beside “their” parking spot? Learning about the law on parking meters illustrates the usefulness of legal encyclopedias like American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris Secundum, found on library shelves.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:32:14 +0000