Rosenberg
Judge Rosemary Ledet ruled against the city of New Orleans' motion for no cause of action 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 after the plaintiffs were ticketed for parking in a private 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."
Ledet ruled against the city's motion, stating that the case before the court was not about the tickets in question but about the constitutionality of the parking meters.
New Orleans assistant City Attorneys Robert Ellis and Thomas Robichaux are representing the city in this case.
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 attorney Harry Rosenberg is representing the parking meter companies.
New Orleans attorney Joseph Morton III is representing ACS.
Ledet did grant the city its third-party motion for leave to file countersuit. 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."
Ledet also established that Standard Parking would be the defendant in the cross claim and the city will amend its suit based on that.
Orleans Parish Case 2005-05453