Marietta apologizes for blocking off handicap parking spots for volunteers

MARIETTA, Ga. — The City of Marietta apologized to a woman after a Fourth of July volunteer turned her away from a handicap parking space.

Debbie Heininger's 13-year old son is in a wheelchair. Heininger told Channel 2's Chris Jose they were told to park somewhere else.

“We were turned away. We were told we could not park here. They were for volunteers only,” said Heininger, who is the wife of a Channel 2 employee.

Jose and photojournalist Dana Moseley saw the orange cones and the “no parking” signs from the City of Marietta. They found each one placed in or next to the handicap parking spots on Mill Street. Jose also saw vehicles without visible handicap tags or placards parked in the handicap spaces.

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The parking lot is a block away from Marietta Square.

“They’ve allowed somebody to park there illegally without any ramifications, but if I parked here legally, they would’ve towed me, which is what the sign clearly said,” said Heininger.

Heininger emailed Marietta’s city manager and filed a complaint.

The city manager apologized to Heininger and said the volunteers shouldn’t have told her that she could not park in a handicap spot.

In the email forwarded to Jose, the city manager told Heininger he directed the public works department to evaluate the handicap parking in the Mill Street lot and to make necessary changes including additional signage and parking space markings, to make sure the incident doesn’t happen again.

Cox Media Group