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When County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) announced plans to beautify Prince George's, few imagined it would mean they would have to change the way they park. However, after officials announced they would become more aggressive about parking violations nearly a year ago, neighborhood complaints sporadically poured in to The Gazette.

Recently, angry e-mails began to surface from a neighborhood in Laurel. Residents complained that a parking monitor came to their street and ticketed residents for parking more than 12 inches from the curb.

Kudos to County Councilman Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel who complained after hearing from constituents. County Parking Director Troy Thompson waived the fines in the neighborhood and chalked the tickets up to a new employee.

However, that does little to help a Clinton resident who was fined for the curb-distance violation and because her car parked in the driveway was slightly in the grass, or for the several Lake Arbor residents who complained of similar tickets in August.

The county's goal is understandable. It isn't appealing when vehicles park on lawns, and it isn't safe when vehicles block sidewalks — and rules must be followed. But there is a better way to go about alerting neighborhoods that have never been noticed by parking monitors. For example, warnings could have been issued for a time period before fines were imposed.

Such an upfront effort would have gone a long way toward preventing the impression that officials are merely trying to get every dime possible from residents during the recession.