Wainfleet council ups the ante on pestilent parkers
After increased bylaw enforcement measures had minimal impact on a rash of illegal parking, Wainfleet Council voted decisively on Tuesday night, June 23, to substantially increase parking fines in the Township.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in calls to staff and councillors about illegal parking and blocking fire lanes,” said Mayor Kevin Gibson, in a Township statement released Friday, June 26.
“We’ve increased our response and enforcement presence, writing tickets and doing some public education, but the problem is continuing and residents are clearly tired of it.”
At their regular meeting of council, Wainfleet’s Bylaw Enforcement staff brought forward a recommendation that the fines for "parking in a prohibited area” be raised from $30 to $50 to provide more of a deterrent.
After weighing its options, Council moved unanimously to go beyond the staff recommendation and raise the penalties from $30 to $100 for:
- Park prohibited by sign
- Park Facing the wrong way (left to curb)
- Parked not angled to the road
- Stop to impede traffic
- Stop on a bridge
- Double parking
The Quarry Road Fire Route is used by the Wainfleet Fire Department as a water source for firefighting in that area of the Township. The Townshoip says that expectations are that penalties for parking in a fire lane may again see significant increases.
Currently, the penalty for "Park in an emergency route" has been raised from $75 to $100.
Additional increases may be considered, as well as random towing blitzes supplemented by Niagara Regional Police.
The changes to the fine amounts are effective immediately.
