Parking Tickets During COVID-19 Pandemic; 'Feels Like A Kick In The Pants'

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Parking tickets aren't uncommon in Chicago.

But this is the new normal. And Mayor Lori Lightfoot said last week that tickets would only be issued if it was a safety violation.

CBS 2 Investigator Dana Kozlov has the story.

Two parking tickets in the past five days for Club Lago restaurant co-owner Guido Nardini and his brother. Both tickets slapped on their cars right in front of their River North restaurant, since Mayor Lightfoot said ticket writing would be scaled back until April 30 due to the COVID-19 crisis.

"I was under the impression that except for emergencies, parking violations were suspended," said Guido Nardini.

The $70 tickets were just another hardship for the brothers after being forced to layoff most of their staff due to restaurants being closed.

And he got his first ticket while loading up his car to deliver food.

"When I came back out with the food, there was a ticket on my car," Nardini said.

He's not alone.

Many people have reached out saying they too got parking tickets, confused because they thought Mayor Lightfoot said tickets would only be issued for public safety reasons.

Even the mayor's own news release said "enforcement will be prioritized for safety-related violations."

"I was a little surprised at (parking meter company) LAZ issuing orders to the mayor, not the other way around," Nardini said.

The mayor said Thursday that people should pay meters. On Monday, a finance department spokesperson said tickets will still be written for expired meters and tow zones after all.

"To see a parking ticket on my car, in the middle of a global pandemic feels like a kick in the pants, salt in the wound," Nardini lamented.

A spokesperson for LAZ parking eventually got back to Kozlov. He says LAZ ticket writers have not written any parking tickets since last Thursday. He says the employees we found writing tickets work for the city.