On Facebook istotne.pl beneath the article “A reader on Partyzantów Avenue: too few benches, neglected plantations”, a resident of Bolesławiec, supported by activist Kinga Gęsicka-Biały, engaged in a verbal battle with young drivers. It was about parking cars on the city plantations by Partyzantów Avenue.
The thread about this battle had more than 50 comments. There were harsh words on both sides. The woman believed that parking on the greenery of the city plantations was prohibited and additionally damaged a historic part of the city. The young men, relying on information from the police officer who had been called, maintained that parking where grass no longer grew—in a bare, trampled area—was entirely lawful.
The result of this confrontation is the installation of bollards on the plantations (photo), preventing further car parking. The bollards were installed as a result of Kinga Gęsicka-Biały’s intervention, after she informed the Municipal Police about the situation.
Problematic parking on bare ground and lawns in Bolesławiec
We wrote about differing interpretations of the law concerning parking on bare ground in an article published in February 2023, as readers have been drawing our attention to cars parked in undesignated areas.
At that time, the Commander of the Municipal Police in Bolesławiec informed us that municipal officers intervene whenever parking a vehicle fulfills the elements of an offense specified in Article 144 § 1 of the Code of Petty Offenses: Destroying or damaging vegetation, lawns or green areas. The penalty for such an offense may be a fine of as much as PLN 1,000.
In February 2023, the police told us that parking cars on so-called bare ground and lawns is handled mainly by the municipal police, and potential offenses should be reported there. Such matters can of course also be reported to the police. Officers will then intervene and assess whether an offense has occurred and whether the case will end with a warning, a fine or referral to court.
However, the difficulties involved in assessing such cases should be remembered. They result from the need to prove that the green area was damaged as a result of parking a particular vehicle. If a car is parked on so-called bare ground only once and for a short time, it is obvious that the bare ground did not arise as a result of that single instance of parking.
Therefore, installing bollards to prevent cars from parking on the lawn seems the most sensible decision and the only one that will effectively protect the plantations and prevent them from being turned into bare, trampled areas.