Salmon Arm council supported reimbursing parking fines to those who presumed it OK to park on a city snow removal route on a snowless day.
That day was Tuesday, December 31 (2024), when Anne Kirkpatrick parked along the south side of Harbourfront Drive NE to use the Foreshore/Raven Trail.
"I was one of dozens of happy Raven Trail walkers enjoying the fine, mild weather on Dec. 31," wrote Kirkpatrick in a letter received at the Jan. 13 council meeting. "Not a snow patch in sight, so imagine our dismay to find a parking ticket on return."
Snow Route signs are posted along this stretch of Harbourfront, showing no parking is permitted between Nov. 1 and March 31. Kirkpatrick agreed the lane should be clear of vehicles for show removal, "but since the dead-end road was bare and dry, everyone there assumed common sense would dictate that we weren't contravening the intent of the signs."
"When I disputed the ticket, a bylaw employee gamely tried to justify the Bylaw – something to the effect that allowing people to park there on no-snow days would confuse them when it was snowy," wrote Kirkpatrick, who asked that the city either scrap or amend the snow route designation.
"Since the lake side of the road already prohibits parking year round, a snow plow is never blocked… Should workers be unable to handle that, signs could say something like 'Unlawful to impede snow clearing. Cars towed and $250 fine," continued Kirpatrick. "This would achieve the stated intent of the current bylaw while allowing citizens proper access to the trailhead on the vast majority of days when the road is clear."
Coun. Sylvia Lindgren noted that ordinarily, at this time of year, the signs make sense.
"The snow would either be piled up there or would be needing to be removed… it would just be an obvious issue," said Lindgren. "But I suspect we’re going to have more winters like this in the future and it might be time… to look at, possibly adjusting our expectations for snow clearing when there’s clearly no snow."
Empathizing with Kirkpatrick and agreeing with Lindgren, Mayor Alan Harrison asked staff for a solution. Administrator Erin Jackson said during times when there's no snow on the ground or in the forecast, "we can use some discretion."
Harrison also suggested the snow route signs be changed for next winter. Jackson advised reviewing the language in the related bylaw.
Lindgren asked if there's a way to reimburse those who were ticketed on Harbourfront on Dec. 31. Jackson was supportive of this but said it would be challenging.
"I don’t know how that’s tracked; however, we could message out if tickets have not been paid we will not be collecting on them," said Jackson. "That is council’s decision. I’m just concerned it could incur a significant amount of staff time to attempt to locate folks…"
Harrison supported reimbursement, stressing the error was council's, not staff who were following the bylaw. This was reiterated by Coun. Kevin Flynn.
"It’s our bylaw and as the rep on Downtown Parking (Commission) – and this is considered part of downtown – all I’ve heard for years is we need to do a better job on parking enforcement, so this is not the bylaw person’s fault…," said Flynn. "The bylaw person is just doing their job. It’s our bylaw, it needs to be revisited…"
Coun. Tim Lavery urged the city come up with a consistent approach, "that we do that by next winter, and a dollop of discretion for the next little while as we move forward."
