I did a thing from the bottom of Barrett-Stoddard road the other day (just S of Baldy village). The little parking lot was full, so I parked in the big turnout on Baldy rd across the street. When I got back, there was a parking ticket waiting for me. Apparently the whole turnout was a no parking zone, with signs at the start and at the end. I was in the middle so I didn't see them.
The thing wasn't signed well, and there's no obvious reason to restrict parking there. But here's the even more confusing thing. The agency issuing the ticket isn't the forest service. Or the county. Or the state. It's the MRCA: the agency administering most of the Santa Monicas and the Verdugos. There's no signage anywhere about it. I guess they own a tiny bit of the San Gabriels, and somebody comes out once per day to give out tickets. The assessor's maps show that turnout as a separate parcel; maybe that's all they own? I'm being charged with violating an "MRCA park ordinance". Does this have any teeth? Are they even empowered to give out citations? Anybody have experience with these?
MRCA parking ticket
I'm pretty sure that's WCA land. They own the Mt. Baldy Wilderness Preserve there. MRCA rangers are contracted to patrol it, but also coordinate with county sheriffs. So it might have been a deputy issuing a ticket on behalf of the MRCA--or a ranger.
The MRCA is a government partnership between state and local agencies.
The MRCA is a government partnership between state and local agencies.
It has to be more than that. The ticket says I violated an "MRCA park ordinance", not a part of the state vehicle code, or anything like that. If the MRCA was just issuing tickets on behalf of somebody else, they'd need to charge me with breaking that somebody else's rules.
It really makes me wonder. Can a random person just buy a turnout, and start demanding payment for people parking there? How is this different?