You could think of it as an annual $50 gift from the city.
Mayor Richard Daley on Wednesday proposed offering drivers a single opportunity each year to fight a parking ticket if it's issued within five minutes of a parking meter expiring, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The mayor said his gesture is in line with a long-standing City Hall message to parking enforcement to not cite cars when the meter has just expired.
Daley's proposal was an olive branch to residents still fuming over the parking meter lease deal and the consequential spike in parking meter rates.
"I understand that many people were angry over the way the parking meter plan was implemented last year," Daley said, according to the Tribune. "This grace period is another step by Chicago Parking Meters to improve the parking meter system and add convenience for motorists."
All 36,000 parking meters in the city last year were privatized in a $1.15 billion, 75-year deal.
