Not every city experiences the same logistical problems, and for a snowy city, I think it's quite reasonable to penalize people for parking in snow emergency routes. If Washington DC were such a place that didn't historically snow, I would sympathize with the fined.
The needs of some city residents to travel for weeks or months without thinking about where they are parked don't outweigh the needs of a snowy city to have emergency snow travel routes.
If you wanted to park some place and hope that it doesn't snow, that's both your loss and gain.