Dozens of people woke up Sunday morning to find that their cars were not where they left them.
Chicago's winter parking ban began at 3 a.m. Sunday and was enforced along 107 miles of city streets.The ban will remain in effect between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. through April 1, regardless of snow.
The Department of Streets and Sanitation began posting flyers on cars parked on restricted streets last week.
Cars violating the parking ban face a minimum $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket and a storage fee of $20 per day, according to city officials. The storage fee has doubled since last year.
Several people haven fallen victim to the Dec. 1 deadline, including one memorable half-naked man who ran out into the street to try to stop his car from being towed.
And despite the warnings this year, storage lots filled up Sunday morning.
"I’m a student, I go to full-time school, I have two jobs and I don’t have money for this," said resident Crysthal Melendez.
Last year, 301 cars were towed on Dec. 1 for violating the parking ban.
If you have trouble finding a place to park, here's a tip. Spothero.com lets you search for parking spots and compare prices. You can even reserve a spot from your smartphone, so you don't get stuck.
A separate permanent ban on another 500 miles of arterial streets is activated when at least two inches of snow are present to help facilitate the clearing of snow.
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Both bans were implemented on designated streets to prevent traffic standstills during major snowstorms in 1967 and 1979.
