PARKING TICKET CONTROVERSY

One local man is outraged about a parking ticket he received yesterday while parked at Southeast Alabama Medical Center. Allen Mercer is one of thirteen people who received tickets, and he is outraged. He is not alone, hundreds of Dothan residents who receive parking tickets contest them. Dothan Police say that many people create parking spaces when one isn`t available, but Mercer says when there are no handicap spaces available, it`s hard on both him and his mother. The cost for parking illegally is a ten dollar fine, but police say that the cost is not just a monetary one. Southeast Alabama Medical Center isn`t the only place with this problem. Walmart, grocery stores and other large shopping centers all have loading zones that people mistake for parking places...but those people will be ticketed in Dothan. The Medical Center says they did not ask police to patrol the parking lot, but they, like other area businesses cannot be responsible if your vehicle is ticketed.