PHOENIXVILLE - A second period of amnesty for unpaid parking in the borough ended Friday, resulting in hundreds of scofflaws being cited by police.
More than 1,400 citations were issued after the month-long grace period ended, according to Borough Manager E. Jean Krack. Those who hadn't paid the $20 parking tickets issued during that time now face the increased fees associated with the citations, Krack said.
The amnesty period coincided with the borough converting to an electronic system that links it with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's database.
"We sent notifications out to people that had tickets and said we now had our system in place," Krack said. "(We said), `Here's a letter and you could pay the regular $20 ticket.'"
Those who didn't capitalize on the grace period received citations that began being filed Friday and went through the weekend.
Although the new system isn't completely up-and-running, Krack said it will be soon and will make it so everything runs smoothly, making parking tickets easier to manage.
"It streamlines the process," Krack said.
Under the previous system, it would take weeks to compile all the necessary information, Krack said. Now, parking tickets will follow a set timeline in their evolution.
"Once the system is up-and-running, a ticket turns into a citation in 10 days," Krack said.
There are a few things left to iron out, but Phoenixville's electronic system should be fully operational very soon.
The second amnesty period yielded so many violations because the borough made sure to thoroughly go over its parking cases and make sure those that had already paid their fines were cleared and those that hadn't were properly cited.