And now for something completely different: the City’s going to enforce the parking bylaws

By David F. Rooney

The City of Revelstoke, which plans to begin enforcing its parking bylaws on May 25, has no tow truck of its own and none of the local towing companies will tow for it, but it has plenty of faith in people’s honesty, says City Planner John Guenther.

Just as the Mounties did with their crack down on scoff-law bicyclists, municipal bylaw enforcement personnel will begin their parking enforcement campaign with warnings. Then they’ll drag out the tickets.

And what can a parking infraction cost you? Well, how about $100 if you park on the sidewalk? Wait a minute. That seems excessive. Parking on the bridge will only cost you $50!

Guenther told Council during its Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday that none of the local towing companies are willing to tow vehicles away and the City doesn’t own one either. However, he did say that it is looking into the possibility of acquiring one.

“So we’re relying on people’s honesty,” he said.

Darren Komonoski, operations manager for Public Works, told Councillor Antoinette Halberstadt there is a schedule of fines in place for parking offenders “but if we can’t tow them we are out of luck.”

Here is the schedule of parking offences and the penalties associated with them:

This is the schedule of fines for the City's various parking infractions. This schedule has been around since 1992 but it is only now, in 2010, that the City plans on trying to enforce parking downtown. Click on the image if you would like to see a larger version of the schedule in PDF format.Schedule courtesy of the City of Revelstoke