Parking tickets surprise SummerSounds staff, prompt Greensburg accommodation
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The SummerSounds concert last Friday drew a huge crowd of about 8,900 to Greensburg’s St. Clair Park to hear an Elton John tribute band.
But there was a sour note earlier that day, well before the free performance, when several people working behind the scenes to prepare for the event were unpleasantly surprised to receive city parking tickets.
Since then, Greensburg officials have come up with a plan to provide parking spots for concert staff and avoid a reprise of the situation.
Gene James is board chairman of the Friends of SummerSounds nonprofit that has taken over operation of the summer concert series from the city. He said at least a handful of those who arrived early to prepare for last week’s concert received tickets, including for parking in an adjacent city lot that they have habitually used without any previous problems.
“We’ve parked Greyhound buses in that lot,” James said. “Most of our performers are touring acts. They come in with big trailers, multiple cars, and some of them have buses.”
Fines for an initial parking violation range from $5 to $30, depending on the infraction. James said a vendor who brought food for the event was slapped with double the larger fine because he parked two vehicles — a truck and a trailer — in the city lot.
James and at least one other volunteer avoided tickets when they moved their vehicles after being warned by a city parking enforcement officer.
While most spaces in the lot near the park’s amphitheater are reserved for leaseholders, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, James said it has been far from full on Friday afternoons.
Some SummerSounds staff parked in a grassy area, James said, but he added, “Some of my volunteers parked in the lot. The park won’t hold all of us.”
While concert volunteers might never have been issued tickets before, last Friday differed from the typical pre-performance routine. Because the Elton Rohn band needed to rehearse with several performers from the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s string section, SummerSounds crew members began to arrive and seek parking in mid-morning, instead of at their usual 1 p.m. start time.
Those who parked in the lot were taking up spaces that were supposed to be available during daytime for the parties who paid to lease them, noted Greensburg police Chief Shawn Denning. As a result, eight parking tickets were issued, he said.
“We have no interest in trying to make any issue with people who volunteer there,” Denning said. “We want to work with them, not against them. We understand what SummerSounds means to Greensburg.
“But, if you’re someone paying for a leased spot, you expect that spot to be open. They were illegally parked.”
During the daytime, said SummerSounds stage manager Rudy Kolencik, “I know not to park there or you will get a ticket.”
There are about 160 leaseholders with reserved spots at the parking area in question, the Cameron and David Keen lot along Otterman Street, according to city administrator Kelsye Hantz. Some of those leased spots are for state office workers.
Hantz said arrangements have been made to assign some unleased spaces in the lot for SummerSounds volunteers and to provide them with corresponding placards.
Longtime volunteer Linda Kubas, who delivers materials for and staffs an informational booth during the concerts, said during the parking enforcement she was not permitted to carry the items from her car, which was deemed to be illegally parked, up stairs to the concert venue. Instead, she said, to avoid a ticket, she had to wait by the car until another volunteer could come to retrieve the items.
She said she then moved her car to a metered spot but had to leave the concert temporarily when the meter’s two-hour limit expired.
“It’s weird that this suddenly is an issue,” she said of the parking enforcement. “It was very disturbing. At least give me 10 seconds to unload my car, and I’ll go away.”
Denning noted he was not privy to the conversations the parking officer might have had with the concert volunteers. He suggested a driver might be asked to stay with a vehicle in case it had to be moved for an emergency.
“The law is the law,” James acknowledged, in reference to city parking regulations. With the placard system that is planned, he said, “I think moving forward we’re going to be OK.”
As for food vendors, city crews are at work installing a previously discussed 1,200-square-foot blacktop pad near the St. Clair Park restrooms.
“That’s going to be for food trucks for SummerSounds and other events that we have there,” said Glenn Moyer, facility manager for the Greensburg Recreation Department. “It will give us a little bit more flat space.
“It’s away from the amphitheater area enough that, if there’s noise — if they have a generator or something — it’s not going to create a problem with that.”
According to James, SummerSounds, which has presented more than 300 concerts over 22 years, provides Greensburg with a yearly economic impact of more than $1 million.
“We started SummerSounds to make Greensburg a cooler place,” he said. “I think it’s just a jewel in the crown of the city. Now, you can’t get a table at a restaurant on Friday nights in Greensburg.”