Morton
Judge Rosemary Ledet will hear a motion for no cause of action by the city of New Orleans on Friday in a suit against the city over parking meters in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.
New Orleans residents Stuart Smith, Rodney Stephens, Guadalupe Gomez, Neal Laney and Beauregard Parish resident David Veazey are suing New Orleans over a series of parking tickets they received in front of Smith's house on St. Philip Street in the French Quarter.
New Orleans attorney Barry Cooper filed the suit in April 2005. The original petition claimed that New Orleans, under former mayor Ray Nagin, illegally installed new Parkeon Pay Stations to replace the older parking meters without proper city ordinances in place to regulate them. As a result, the plaintiffs claim they were wrongfully ticketed for parking in Smith's driveway.
The city filed a motion for no cause of action, which noted that all the parking tickets had been dismissed and "therefore, [the plaintiffs] have not been adversely affected by the City's Parkeon pay station." Furthermore, the city argues, "there is no free parking in the City of New Orleans."
New Orleans, the New Orleans City Planning Commission, Parking Solutions LLC, Standard Parking Corp., ACS State Local Solutions Inc. and the Vieux Carre Commission are named as defendants in the suit.
New Orleans assistant City Attorneys Robert Ellis and Thomas Robichaux are representing the city in this case.
New Orleans attorney Harry Rosenberg is representing the parking meter companies.
New Orleans attorney Joseph Morton III is representing ACS.
In June, New Orleans filed a cross claim against the parking meter companies and ACS – which processes the city's parking tickets – under the claim that the contract the city signed with all the parking meter companies indemnifies New Orleans against any and all claims.
The city claims it is entitled to indemnification "based upon the Parking defendant's and ACS' breaches of duties of care."
Orleans Parish Case 2005-05453