Yorkton Council continues to refine amendments to the Traffic Bylaw which received first reading Nov. 21, 2016.
The Bylaw had been back before Council Dec. 12, where after discussing a number of details it was tabled.
The same scenario played out again Monday at the regular meeting of Council Monday.
While City Administration detailed a number of refinements and corrections to the bylaw since the December meeting, Council was still not satisfied.
The biggest stumbling block for Council was the increase in parking ticket penalties.
The bylaw as presented would have seen a ticket of $50 for parking on the street in excess of posted time limits, with a $15 reduction if paid within 10 days of the date of the violation.
Council had voiced concerns with the fees in December, but Administration was not eager to lower the increases.
“Council requested that Administration consider reducing fines for things such as parking at an expired meter,” René Richard, Director of Engineering & Asset Management told the regular meeting of Council Monday.
“Fines are in place for two reasons: to punish those that contravene our Bylaws and to incentivize Bylaw compliance so enforcement isn’t required. At the end of the day, we strive for Bylaw compliance – we would prefer not to issue tickets. Currently Bylaw Services has a dedicated downtown parking enforcement officer that polices part time in the downtown area.
“Since we don’t have someone on full time and many people know this, people know that half of the time they will not get caught. Therefore, if our fines are low and people already know that they’re only potentially going to get caught half the time, we’re always going to struggle to achieve compliance. On the other hand, if our fines are higher it will be more of a deterrent for people that may be considering contravening the Bylaw.
“Administration received many complaints from people that our downtown parking enforcement is poor and we recognize that downtown parking is a challenge. At the last meeting we were specifically asked to consider reducing the fines for parking at an expired meter for example. Many of the fines for parking infractions were set to the same amount as to not encourage certain infractions versus others. For example, if the fine for parking at an expired 15 minute meter is lower than a fine for parking longer than two hours, the person may as well park at the 15 minute meter and receive a lower ticket.
“Administration believes that the downtown parking enforcement should pay for itself through fine revenue. We compared approximately one month of downtown parking fines. Every month the City pays approximately $1,950 for downtown parking enforcement. This does not include the time the Bylaw Coordinator spends reviewing ticket complaints, etc. If the fines go up to the proposed amount, the number of tickets issued will likely decrease in the future as voluntary Bylaw compliance will increase.”
Councillor Aaron Kienle said change was needed.
“They have to be increased. Nobody cares at $10,” he said.
Coun. Randy Goulden said the increase seemed excessive for the 15-minute metres, which led to a suggestion of a two-tiered ticket fee, with Council directing Administration to a $20 ticket at 15-minute metres and $35 for two-hour metres.
The other sticking point was a clause in the bylaw which restricted school buses being parked at the Gallagher Centre parking lot unless they were delivering students to the facility.
Mayor Bob Maloney suggested the lot be open to school buses to park after taking students to any facility in the city, which became a direction for Administration.
In the end Council again tabled the bylaw pending further fine-tuning by Administration to reflect the directions given Monday.
