Parking Ticket

Last week when I was at my patients home, a neighbor knocked on their door and informed me that a police officer just issued a parking ticket on my car. Reason: I was blocking the sidewalk. Its my first ever Parking Ticket. Dang! Its so stupid. I think the city of Detroit need money that they spend a lot of time issuing parking ticket. Theres so much crime in the area, can they focus on that instead? Im so bothered that i almost didnt send my payment but I dont want them to impound my car. So today I send my $30 fee and admit my responsibility with explanation. I told them that I purposely park my car away from the steps because we need that so much clearance to train my patient to go up and down the steps. I knowingly block the sidewalk but I cant park along the side of the road because that was a garbage pick up day and so many garbage cans that I cant find a place to park. I hope they will consider my valid reasons.