BIT BY THE BAN
Dan Cameron and his wife, Brenda, are among those who wonder if the City of Ottawa hasn't become a little overzealous in the issuing of winter on-street parking ban tickets. A total of 17,795 have been handed out this season, including one to Cameron that left him shaking his head.
People across town are asking if the City of Ottawa has gone crazily overboard with enforcement of the winter on-street parking ban.
Just the odd infraction? Lord no. The city has issued 17,795 tickets during the five winter parking bans so far this season.
In some cases, well-meaning residents have watched the plow go by, then moved their cars onto the cleared road to shovel or blow their own driveways, only to get parking tickets because the vehicle is temporarily on the cleaned street.
What?
This is exactly what happened to residents on Grandpark Circle in the Johnson/Conroy area in November. (In one case, it was even worse: The ticket was issued for a vehicle on the cleared street during the 30 or so minutes it took the homeowner, only steps away, to clean his driveway.)
Dan Cameron and Doug Ross are retired law enforcement officers and neighbours on Grandpark. They both got dinged with $125 tickets on Nov. 23.
“I have served as a public/ peace officer for more than 30 years,” wrote Ross to Coun.
Diane Deans. “During this period, I have never once received as much as a parking ticket.” (Proof that if you live long enough, bylaw will eventually find you.)
They describe how the plow went by in both directions that morning, clearing the street but leaving rows across everyone's driveway. The weather had turned mild by noonish and the 10 centimetres of snow was beginning to melt, showing bare asphalt.
In order to clear their driveways, each put a vehicle on the street. It was apparently while Cameron was blowing snow that a bylaw officer came back and ticketed his truck.
Across the street, meanwhile, Ross had done much of his driveway but went into the house to get a glass of water and take a break. When he came out, there was a ticket, issued at 12:37 p.m. Neighbours began to talk — there were six or seven tickets issued in the span of minutes — all on a perfectly plowed street that has very little traffic.
“Ridiculous,” Cameron called it this week, a milder version of his first email: “Sounds like Orwellian nonsense in a Nanny State Dreamworld where common sense and discretion have been disregarded!”
Flash forward to Mike Ranger, 40, who arrived at his Eccles Street home on Feb. 16 at about 4:30 p.m. to find he was plowed in and couldn't access his driveway. He parked his car in a “legal” spot down the street and immediately set to turning on the snowblower to clear the plow-row and his driveway.
Maybe an hour later, he went to retrieve his car, now slapped with a $125 ticket.
“I was shocked,” Ranger said. “I thought, `What the hell is this? What is this even for?'”
The wording of the violation is, indeed, bizarrely impenetrable. “Park vehicle on highway at any time and on any date prescribed by the general manager.”
What?
The city says the on-street parking ban can be imposed any time more than seven centimetres of snow is predicted. They typically last several hours and the city does its best to announce them in advance on the radio and social media.
When Cameron pointed out to bylaw officials the street had already been plowed, an official wrote back with one of those “Orwellian Dreamworld” answers very much in the air that day:
“Even if the plow has already cleared snow in a specific area, it is sometimes necessary for snow operations staff to do additional passes of the area, including salting.”
What?
The city, of course, has some advice if you arrive home after a tough day at the office to find Mount Everest at the end of your driveway — courtesy of the city — and the on-street parking ban is on. You can legally park your car in several designated spots, like a park-and-ride, or Tom Brown Arena, or Ben Franklin Place or selected major streets and then, presumably, hitch a dogsled back home, shovel your driveway, then make like Amundsen back to the car.
The city, ever helpful, also suggests running the shovel or snowblower around the vehicle as it sits in the laneway, presumably after ramming your way through the plow's icy barrier.
For his part, Ross appeals for common sense.
“I have learned the importance of balancing the letter of the law and the spirit of the law; the divide between the two is the place where public officials, such as police, municipal enforcement officers and other sworn officials, are expected by citizens to execute discretion.”
The protests did have an impact. The tickets were reduced to $50 from $125. In Ranger's case, it isn't clear what will happen.
This snow job, surely, isn't nearly over, as long as flakes fall from the sky.
Residents have watched the plow go by, then moved their cars onto the cleared road to shovel or blow their own driveways, only to get parking tickets.