Changes to on-street parking rules

The weather may have been warm for October, but Woolwich councillors meeting Tuesday night had snow on their minds. Specifically, the township’s wintertime ban on on-street parking to facilitate snow removal.

Council approved a plan to shift the hours when on-street parking is not permitted, moving to 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. from the current 2:30-6 a.m. The ban remains in effect for the same period, Dec. 1 to Apr. 1.

Dan Kennaley, the township’s director of engineering and planning, noted road crews typically start at 5 a.m., so the new hours better reflects when snowplows are on the road.

“This will give our snowplow operators more time to get the work done,” he said.

Councillors suggested staff begin issuing warnings to drivers by mid-November, alerting them to changes in the prohibited hours. While some leniency will be allowed in the early part of the season, they pressed for more consistency in enforcing the ban. Currently, enforcement is weatherdependent, with milder conditions seeing less activity on the ticketing front.

Having had staffing issues in the bylaw enforcement department, the township will look at “deputizing” some of the roads crews to issue warnings and tickets.

“We need to do a better job than last year,” admitted chief administrative officer David Brenneman.