Geneva man challenges authorities regarding the lack of parking places, and goes to court
Joël Grandjean, a fifty-year-old Geneva citizen, has been ordered by the Tribunal de première instance to wear an electronic bracelet for 1 month after refusing to pay parking fines totaling CHF 2,900.
He filed a civil complaint against the Fondation des parkings, who provides the mandatory parking macarons (a badge that allows parking for residents in blue-painted parking spaces) in order to be able to park long term in Geneva’s blue zones. According to Grandjean, the distribution by the Foundation of more macarons than the number of available parking spaces has caused systematic and illegal overcrowding of the blue zones.
The Fondation des parkings issued a statement on the situation, stating that the blue macaron does not give one the right to an automatic parking place, but is only an authorization to park long term in the blue zones. What will be the consequence of Grandjean’s complaint against the Fondation des parkings? No one is actually quite sure.
What we do know though is that the lack of parking places in Geneva is a recurrent problem that has caused a lot of anger and complaints among the Geneva population for many, many years.
Sources:
Tribune de Genève: Au prix de sa liberté, il défie les règles du parking
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