The recent increases in city parking rates and the doubling of parking fines were approved by Vernon city council during their budget deliberations earlier this year.
One of the justifications offered at the time was the city’s abiding need to increase revenue.
Apparently, our rates and penalties for parking violations had not been increased in years and had fallen behind those imposed by other communities in the valley.
Doubling the fines did seem a little stiff but it should be remembered that the whole system of parking meters and their monitoring exists to fairly ration a limited parking resource for the benefit of those who choose or need to do business downtown.
Fair enough. Still nobody is overjoyed at finding a ticket on their windshield.
This angst over being caught in violation of the parking bylaw appears to have motivated the most recent city council discussions aimed at softening the enforcement surrounding expired meters.
The envisioned measures include issuing of warning tickets for perceived first timers, canvasing the neighbourhood to find the owner of the offending vehicle and ongoing education to the business owners as to the appropriate use of parking meters (presumably aimed at the unfair and self-defeating practice of meter feeding).
All of this softened approach to be delivered by a kinder, gentler bylaw officer.
I’m confused.
On the one hand, our city council doubles the parking fines citing the need for revenue and the other hand seriously considers new priorities in the enforcement which are less efficient, more expensive and will likely result in fewer fines being issued.
So which is it: more revenue or less tickets?
You can’t have it both ways.
When council tries to go in opposite directions at the same time, it results in going nowhere. It should have remembered that everyone complains about parking fines, and that uniformly monitored parking meters remains the fairest way to administrate the limited on street parking in our downtown.
Still time on the meter.
Shawn Lee
Vernon
