Utica To Designate ‘Veterans’ Parking Spaces In City Owned Lots

The Utica Common Council is announcing legislation that will specifically designate a space in all city owned parking lots for Veterans and Widows of Veterans.

Councilman Joe Marino, who authored the legislation, says its a way for the City to say thank you to the Veterans from the area.

Each spot will be next to existing handicapped spaces, and while Marino says there will be no penalty for using the space if you're not a Veteran, he's hoping Utica citizens will respect the signs.

Marino said he got the idea from his brother-in-law, a Fallujah veteran who shops at Home Depot because of their designated Veteran spaces.

"The Veteran’s Parking proposal isn’t about just providing a parking space, or education, or Veteran’s benefits," Marino said. "Respectfully, it is about saying 'Thank You for Your Service' on a daily basis and in a visible manner. It would be an active show of appreciation for those who served our communities. Saying thanks and recognizing you one day a year on Veteran’s Day isn’t enough. You should be thanked every day by grateful communities and the Nation. A Veteran’s Parking Space at all municipal facilities would help make that statement daily."

 

Any Veteran that would like to take advantage of the parking spaces can get a free Veterans parking sticker at City Hall that Marino says is a replica of the World War Two medals given to Utica Vets on their return from service in the 1940's.

The stickers were drawn by Common Councilman Jack LoMedico and produced by A&P Master Images in Utica.

"This is long overdue and I am really honored to be able to say thank you in a small way to the brave men and women who served this country, Councilman Jack LoMedico said.  "As a Councilman and a Veteran this is a fantastic way to remind anyone who comes to a City owned lot, that the City of Utica appreciates their service"