Winter parking restrictions should be more “lenient”: Abel

January 13, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

If you were pressed to sum up the winter, so far, in just one word, chances are “erratic” might be near the top of the list.

To that end, Councillor John Abel is calling for a bit of leniency in Aurora’s on-street parking restrictions that come into effect during the winter months.

Coming into force in the late fall, the winter parking restrictions prohibit on-street parking overnight to allow the safe and easy passage of snow plows clearing the streets. With snow events few and far between, however, these restrictions are causing headaches for residents, according to Councillor Abel.

“My biggest concern is our winter parking restrictions and I want to advocate for some leniency,” said the Councillor to Town Directors in a recent discussion on sweeping changes to parking policy in Aurora’s Downtown Core. “When we did this the first day [in 2015] we had 51 tickets issued. You certainly made it known that winter parking is enforced and we hadn’t had any snow plowing to date.

“The Where Is My Plow? App was not online for the simple reason it hadn’t snowed. I don’t know why we are enforcing parking. I do want to adapt what they do in other municipalities and that is to work with residents. In Ottawa, which gets twice the snowfall we get, they don’t have winter parking. If their communication says snow is in the forecast, then vehicles have to be removed from the road. That is working with your residents and being practical, in my mind. I think we can say to our residents that if there is snow in the forecast, you have to remove your car rather than start [the enforcement] and end it when there is no snow falling.”

A further report on possible changes to the on-street parking ban is expected by the end of the winter for possible implementation by this fall, according to municipal staff.

“I agree that having overnight parking restrictions when there isn’t really any snow event to be worried about can be problematic,” said Ilmar Simanovskis, Aurora’s Director of Infrastructure.

Added Techa Van Leeuwen, Director of Bylaw Services: “If we monitor the program and come back with a follow-up report within three months, we can include that information around the typical snow events when they occur and provide some options in that report.”

Councillor Abel, however, said he was not satisfied that this issue would not be addressed until after this season was ushered out by the spring.
“I would like it to be as soon as possible,” he said.