Edmonton city council explores budget to tow vehicles during winter parking bans
'A big component of making sure we're doing parking enforcement is making sure that the crews can do the work that they need to do,' Coun. Erin Rutherford. 'And giving people a ticket doesn't move the car.'
The parking bans are also issued in the spring when crews are directed to sweep streets.
City councillors discussed a report prepared by city administrators for the community and public services committee. One of its recommendations was to potentially increase enforcement funding by $100,000 or more when parking bans are declared because of snow or ice buildup on roads in the winter.
City council also debated the merits of allowing the city to contract companies to two vehicles that are violating a parking ban to a nearby street so that crews can clear the road.
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'(Edmontonians) want to know that we are working as efficiently and effectively as possible,' Coun. Ashley Salvador told reporters. 'In order to do that, we do need folks to move their vehicles off the street.'
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During the winter season, the city can declare a parking ban on specific streets with just eight hours notice to try to clear roads to make them safe for travel. The ban is usually implemented in phases to target different kinds of streets at different times and comes with temporary parking restrictions.
City administrators said contract towing services have not been available since the city had a one-time funding boost to parking ban enforcement in 2022-23. Currently, there are five bylaw enforcement officers who issue tickets during parking bans and there is no budget for towing.
One of the other changes councillors are considering is to reduce the cost of tickets issued for violating parking bans from $250 to $150 if the budget to tow vehicles is brought back.
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The discussion about how to enforce parking bans is set to be discussed again in the future once city council resumes after a summer break.
–with files from Global News' Jasmine King
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