Rocky Ridge resident Russ Young received one of about 6,000 parking tickets issued during the snow route parking ban. But he argues his ticket isn’t justified.
“To me, this is nothing more than a cash grab.”
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Young said he was fined because he was parked on a snow route before the ban was lifted. But he said his car wasn’t there when the plows came by. It was several hours after the snow was gone that he assumed the coast was clear and said he returned his vehicle to the clean street.
“I’m more than happy to abide by rules and get off the road, but I don’t understand specifically going to an area that has clearly been plowed and giving tickets,” Young said. “They should be focusing attention on areas where people are infracting and parking where clearing hasn’t occurred.”
In response to the overall complaints, Councillor Diane Colley-Urquhart is putting forward a notice of motion to review parking bans.
She suggests reviewing the fines and identifying low compliance areas. The motion is also recommending other communication channels to better notify the public during a parking ban and offering other parking options to those impacted by it.
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Councillor Shane Keating wants more than a review.
“There has to be a definite action plan. Reviewing what we do? We already know what we do,” Keating said. “The question is: What do we want to do? And it could be: we have a second reserve fund that says in exceptional years, let’s change the standard policy.”
It’s expected Colley-Urquhart will present her motion later in March.
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