Parking in Huntsville’s downtown core can be a challenge at any time of year, but particularly in the summer. The Town has hired a parking ambassador for the summer who will help educate people about parking bylaws and where parking is available, but will also enforce the bylaws for those who don’t want to follow them. Now parking fines may increase as well.
At the May 25 General Committee meeting, Town staff brought forward a new draft parking bylaw that includes increases for parking fines. Those fines have not been changed in 10 years, noted Andrew Stillar, the Town’s Chief Bylaw Enforcement Officer.
Current fines are as low as ten dollars for exceeding the allowable time limit – did you know that there’s a two hour limit in all downtown parking spots? – and lower than those imposed by other are municipalities.
Under the amended bylaw, the fines would range from $20 for offences like parking outside of a designated space or parking the wrong way, to $300 for parking an unauthorized vehicle in a designated accessible parking space. Parking in excess of the time limit will now bring a $30 fine while parking in a fire route will net offenders a $100 ticket.
Huntsville’s proposed parking fines under the new draft parking bylaw
Parking meters were used at one time to help “ensure that regular parking space turnover occurred so that the maximum number of residents and visitors could access the businesses and their associated goods and services,” noted the staff report. Parking meters were removed from downtown streets in 2012, but the report said that the bylaw “should be updated to implement the more business friendly approach envisioned by Council when it directed that parking meters be removed.”
The bylaw will go before council at its next meeting for ratification.
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Absolutely start in front of Pizza Pizza, those vehicles block traffic at the intersection and make it very difficult to keep traffic moving
I believe that the BIA was supposed to be doing the parking control as a condition for removing the parking meters. So why are we as taxpayers hiring and paying for the same?
Just be sure to remember that almost 100% of the customers in the older traditional downtown core come by car and they need to be able to park within a reasonable distance of a business or they will not shop there.
There is lots and lots of parking at the Malls and although it is not really “free”, the cost being buried in the prices charged at the mall, it has the appearance of “free” when compared to the down town core and it is usually much easier to access.
Please start at Pizza-Pizza. You should be able to really gross a lot of fine money this summer.