By Craig Westcott/December 2, 2021
Every year at this time the members of Mount Pearl council sound almost apologetic about having to bring in the annual Winter parking restrictions.
That's because nearly every year at this time, there is little snow to be found and the weeks leading to Christmas are interspersed with days of mild weather.
But as every Newfoundlander knows, that could change in a blink.
Still, councilors couldn't help sounding just a little hesitant Tuesday as they approved the restrictions for the coming months.
The motion to make the restrictions effective starting Wednesday, December 1, was made by community development committee chairperson Chelsea Lane. They are set to expire March 31, 2022. Violators will be subject to a fine, Lane said.
Under the rules, no vehicle is permitted to be left parked on any street within the city between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., or at any time during a storm and for 12 hours afterwards.
"Any unattended vehicle parked on any street contrary to these regulations may be removed and impounded at the owner's expense," Lane said. "And no person shall shovel, plow, blow or cause to be shoveled, plowed or blown, any residue snow from a driveway or parking lot onto any street, carriageway or sidewalk in this city."
Mayor Dave Aker said the regulations don't mean winter has started, but is simply about winter readiness.
"Sometimes we'll get commentary from some of our residents wondering why on a day like yesterday (Monday), for example when it was 10 degrees and sunny, why would we implement a parking ban?" said the mayor, who then asked director of infrastructure and public works Gerard Antle for a briefing on the City's winter preparations.
"Winter readiness has already started for us," Antle acknowledged. "At public works we have a partial night shift that is in place right now. We have winter supervisors on shift 24/7. In the evening times we will get circumstances now that it's icing, that it's below zero. So, we do have machines operating throughout the evening times as well. This right now is the shoulder season. We don't know when we could get snow. Just a couple of weeks ago the forecast was for five or 10 centimeters and we woke up to find we had 17 centimeters fallen. It's about us being ready and being able to manoeuvre our vehicles, and at this point in time we are ready for winter."
To that, Mayor Aker pointed out that enforcement of the rules can take on one of two different styles, depending on the circumstances.
"There is the soft enforcement as we enter the shoulder season of winter," said Aker. "Might we do it differently in January versus when this gets implemented at midnight tonight?"
"Your Worship, our enforcement team certainly uses judgement when they're patrolling, when they see vehicles and depending on the event, and the time of year," said director of community development, Jason Collins. "A lot of factors are taken into consideration."
Put to a vote, the winter parking restrictions passed unanimously.
