Thanks planning department of Halifax, for only consulting with the city legal team and high level staff RE a 10 year old parking rule that was never enforced until just this year. A rule no one has heard of until just now and suddenly “80 tickets in 3 hours” are being written by Parking Enforcement agents who are getting serious flak from people because they’ve also never heard of this rule. Not to say the rule isn’t fair, because it is. The point is, no one from the city bothered to inform the public, which is entirely unaware of this rule. The rule states that no vehicle may occupy a zone (typically a block) longer than 2h, and at the end of 2h one must move their vehicle to an entirely new zone (typically, another block). One can no longer simply drive around the block and park in the same spot, or move their vehicle up a parking spot.
I hope you and the legal team receive as much ‘feedback’ from the public as Parking Enforcement has RE their decision to only consult with their legal team and not bother informing the public. Can municipal government be bothered to disseminate anything of use via social media? —city says chaching
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2015.
It’s not the city’s fault you never bothered to learn the parking by laws before you parked your heap of junk.
The solution is simple. Mark the front position of your car with a line of chalk. When the two hours are up, drive around the block and park your car so that your back bumper is positioned over the line. Therefore you will not be occupying the same position and so will not be fined. Good luck!
I’d imagine there’s a sign of some sort within range of your parking job.
A blank area (and do look for any sign!) is 24 hour parking at least within the city proper; I’ve been using one for 4 years now and haven’t seen this supposed ’10 year old’ rule being enforced.
the public has a duty of care to observe all bylaws whether they know them or not. Bylaws are posted on HRM websites etc. Ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, if you only owned a horse…
There are a lot of rules people don’t know and aren’t enforced. This one I knew of, the area is meant for 2 hour parking per vehicle per day. If you want to park all day, find an all-day parking spot.
Other illegal acts:
Parking more than 15 cm from the curb.
Parking with a wheel up on the curb.
Parking on a crest of a hill or in a curve where the view of an incoming car is obstructed.
Within 5m of a crosswalk or hydrant
Within 7.5m of an intersection
Within 10m of a stop sign, yield sign, flashing beacon, traffic control signal.
Leaving your car on the street for more than 24 hours.
In here: http://www.novascotia.ca/sns/rmv/handbook/… and in detail the NS motor vehicle act.
Residents can apply for on-street parking at a cost of $30/yr which exempts them from the no-parking rule. One is not guaranteed a space but are able to park on the street. Not during the winter parking ban (need to clarify that or people would claim they did not that rule applied to them since they had a permit.) Go figure. Dumber than asphalt.
Been parking downtown for 5 years using the good ol 2 hour parking. You actually use to be able to move your car half a tire length because parking enforcement would chalk the tire or go by your valve stem to determine if you moved within that time frame. As of December they started going by zones. A quick call to 311, asking to be put into contact with parking enforcement, and I was informed by a very nice and friendly agent who clearly informed me of the regulations. So all it requires now is a move to a new street or switch to the other side of the street. The zones are also broken up by street intersections.
As for the on street parking permits, the only public locations are on the north side of Citadel Hill all the way up to Bloomfield. So instead of bitching, next time try asking nicely.
Damn, I feel bad for teh students if they’re going to get blasted for having 3 classes in a row.
I always lined up my classes back to back to back to back to tighten up my day but it looks like it could bite them in the ass….
Or are they just enforcing this moreso downtown?
It would certainly solve everything, Miss Grundy.
I asked the city for a map of the zones after receiving 2 tickets (once for having moved the car to another spot further down the street & the second time for parking one street over from where I’d originally parked, I guess the car is super easy to identify as it has a bike rack). I was told that there is no such map & that even if you were to park several streets over and even if it’s not continously (you leave for a few hours & then have reason to go back to the same general area) you could still get a ticket. The person on the phone said it was to free up parking spots in peninsular Halifax. I think it’s just a crazy cash grab.
Hey – what about:-
more parking being made available to encourage people into town?
make it free? The city makes enough money off the backs of its citizens, they are forgetting their main goal – to reduce taxes and improve standards for the tax payer – or is there a new rule for politicians?
ignorance is no excuse, but that does not make it right.