Beginning Monday, the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo are launching a new system for parking tickets which the former says will make it “easier and faster for residents in both cities to resolve parking tickets.”
Residents will see parking tickets replaced by penalty notices starting on Monday.
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The cities can now choose to resolve parking matters through a screening officer rather than the court system.
“Giving staff increased flexibility and discretion to attempt to resolve parking penalty issues in the initial stages of the process increases the number of incidents that can be resolved earlier in the process and reduces added costs or time commitments associated with going through the provincial courts,” Gloria MacNeil, director of by-law enforcement at the City of Kitchener, said in a statement.
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The cities believe that by decreasing the number of tickets that are decided in courtrooms, it will also speed up the amount of time it takes to get others resolved.
They say it currently takes around eight or nine months to resolve a parking dispute, but expect that time to be reduced to two to three months.
“The new system will be more efficient and more user-friendly, while maintaining the fundamental principles of open court and due process,” said Shayne Turner, director of by-law enforcement for the City of Waterloo.
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