Parking in Waterloo Region

[Canard]

Well, that's pretty misleading.  Especially if you're visiting and just see signs that only say "No parking between December and March".  It implies you're allowed to park there at all other times. I certainly thought that was the rule, based on my observations of others and the signage itself. There was no "fine print". I didn't realize there was some hidden list of blanket rules (the bylaw) that supersedes the signs that we're all supposed to go dig up and read before doing anything.

I have no problem paying the $20 (slap my wrist, I'm in the wrong, apparently), but I have issue with things not being posted properly and me getting the fine when I'm the "new guy" on the street (only lived here for 3 years) and everyone else is still doing it.

[ookpik]

Well, that's pretty misleading.  Especially if you're visiting...

Ignorantia juris non excusat and all that  Whether you're a long time resident, a n00b resident or a visitor is irrelevant.

Moreover because these parking regulations are set by each municipality, they can vary even between Kitchener and Waterloo. If you park near the border it also behooves you to know which set of regulations apply.

I have no problem paying the $20 (slap my wrist, I'm in the wrong, apparently), but I have issue with things not being posted properly and me getting the fine when I'm the "new guy" on the street (only lived here for 3 years) and everyone else is still doing it.

1. You got off cheap. I got fined $40 about a year ago in Waterloo for parking too close to a driveway. Apparently the regulation is, "Parking within... 1½ metres (five feet) of a driveway is prohibited." My "crime" was parking more than 4' but less than 5' from a driveway. (Yes, I measured.) I wasn't blocking anyone, either physically nor visually. Apparently the meter nazis carry tape measures along with chalk and watches.

2. I once parked my car in a marked, metered parking spot in Toronto. As I got out to read the  half dozen parking/stopping/standing, etc. signs on a utility pole [similar but even more confusing than the one below], a cop comes up to my car and starts to write a ticket. I got to him just in time to explain that I was trying to make sense of all the signs to determine if parking was allowed. His TL;DR for those of us without law degrees, "No." Thankfully he let me leave without a souvenir.



P.S. Any guerilla graphic artists in the audience?
Parking Sign Redesign
To park or not to park: a guerrilla parking sign redesign project

[BuildingScout]

In Toronto I parked on a street where the signs sort of implied that it wasn't legal to park, but since everyone parked there I figured it had to be legal. Once I got to my destination I had to search on the web to find out that one could indeed park overnight until 7am. There was simply no way to deduce this fact from the signage though.

[Pheidippides]

ByLaw Question...

So this morning I come out to find a ticket on my car - $20, saying that I violated the parking ByLaw for leaving my car parked for more than 3 hours.  Zuh?  People park on my street all the time overnight and for days at a time.  A quick search online confirms that yea, you can't park anywhere in Kitchener for more than 3 hours unless posted otherwise!  I'll have to have a chat with my neighbours about this.

https://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitc...ations.asp

How the heck does this 3 hour thing jive with the "No Overnight Parking from Dec. to March" then?  This 3 hour rule thing means you can never park overnight, doesn't it?

I've been burned by that by-law before. As a long time resident I wasn't aware of it (I own that I was guilty of ignorance), but apparently it is posted at all entrances to the city (you just have to read it while going 70kph).

My biggest problem with the by-law is that I have never heard of it applied outside of the neighbourhoods immediately adjacent to the downtown core (e.g. in the suburbs). What does that say about equitable by-law enforcement across the city? Another reason to stay in the 'burbs, a two car driveway and consequence free parking on the roads too.

[Markster]

Interesting, I had previously assumed that Kitchener had the same No Overnight Parking that Waterloo has. The devil's in the details.

This explains why I've generally heard that it's much less enforced in Kitchener.

In Waterloo, the mere presence of your vehicle between 2am and 6am on a city street breaks the rule, and so an enforcement officer can immediately write up a ticket.
In Kitchener, there needs to be some proof that you've been there for more than 3 hours, which requires the officer to return over 3 hours later, and determine that it is the same car. If the officer sees your car at 3am, they have to make a point to return at 6am or later in order to write you up.

[MidTowner]

The three hour limit is something that I find really annoying. It dissuades people who own cars and park on the street from occasionally making use of public transit or active transportation (since you could get home at 5:00pm and find a ticket on your car windshield); and, like most parking restrictions, it encourages more private parking (if your on-street parking is inconvenient, you may eventually decide it's worth your while to widen your driveway, paving over more landscaped area and maybe even removing on-street parking which can be used much more effectively).

Last year, Kitchener City Council voted (on a pilot basis- ugh) to stop enforcing the three-hour limit overnight during the non-winter months. I believe that's expired. They had a pilot in ward five to allow boulevard parking (which should be a no-brainer if your boulevard happens to have the space for it), but that was not extended elsewhere. The amount of times that Kitchener Council has considered this and related issues the last couple of years is ridiculous. A few real gems of logic have been presented by several councillors- that boulevard parking or on-street parking is somehow "unsightly," that "abandoned" cars are undesireable, so on and on.

Blanket bans like the "no three hour parking on any street under any circumstances" are asinine. Because they're hard to enforce, they wind up being a way for neighbours to use city resources in their own feuds; and they ignore the fact that older and newer neighbourhoods have vastly different dynamics. Our council obviously has no understanding of the value of on-street parking, and would prefer that all neighbourhoods consist of single-family homes with double-wide driveways and two-car garages. Fortunately, many of our neighbourhoods do not look like that, and the parking bylaws should accommodate the realities there.

[Coke6pk]

As a FORMER by-law officer for the city (so don't hate me now), I can let you know the 3 hour limit outside of the downtown core is enforced only on a complaint basis.... so sorry Canard, one of your neighbours had an issue with someone parking "in front of their house" (I never understood how people thought they owned that spot.  I will say it was satisfying when they called to complain about a car parked in "their" spot, and after chalking all cars on the street, the complainant was also a recipient of a gift from the city).  Because of frequent abuse by facility users/workers, there is constant enforcement downtown, and in the areas around the two hospitals.  Don't get me wrong, it sucks to be the recipient... I've received my fair share of them, even while I worked there.

Furthermore, the 3 hour's has a buffer, so it is actually longer before you get tagged.  And tickets are not issued after 12:00 (midnight), so as of 9:01 pm your car is safe outside of the winter hours. 

Like said earlier, the 3 hour and overnight by-laws are posted at all major entrances to the city.... which if you argue the fact, you will learn there are about 20 parking by-laws that have no signs, you have to figure them out yourself (ie. 3m of a hydrant, 9m of an intersection, 15m of a railway crossing, "Snow Emergency", distance from the curb, etc). 

Coke6pk

[Canard]

Thanks for the insight.  Let me explain my situation a little further.  I don't claim to own any portion of the street.  My neighbours have 2 Minivans (and a car) to haul their 5 children around, and routinely park both of the vans on the street (instead of their driveway), directly opposite my driveway:

   

My driveway is extremely narrow (70+ year old houses), and so is the depression on the curb leading to the main road... so it makes it impossible for me to back out of my driveway and onto the road if their vans are there without hopping the curb.

So I often just leave my car where they would park their vans, to a) discourage them from parking there - if they get to park there, so can I, and b) let me have a hope of getting to work in the morning without driving over the curb.

The 9:01pm thing must have changed, because my ticket was timed as issued at 10:30pm.

[plam]

So I often just leave my car where they would park their vans, to a) discourage them from parking there - if they get to park there, so can I, and b) let me have a hope of getting to work in the morning without driving over the curb.

The 9:01pm thing must have changed, because my ticket was timed as issued at 10:30pm.

Sounds like you need to have a frank discussion with your neighbours...

I understood that you could park your car starting at 9:01. But if your car was left there from 7:30-10:30pm, then you are liable to get a ticket.

[Coke6pk]

The 9:01pm thing must have changed, because my ticket was timed as issued at 10:30pm.

[quote pid='6960' dateline='1430149599']
I understood that you could park your car starting at 9:01. But if your car was left there from 7:30-10:30pm, then you are liable to get a ticket.

[/quote]

plam is right.  I stated they don't ticket after midnight, so your 3 hr ticket at 10:30 actually was a violation started at 7:30 or a point earlier.  Your vehicle is chalked (and licence plate and location entered in the handheld) up until 9:01pm.  [And for the "Big Brother" fears, all that information is automatically deleted by the handheld every evening]

Canard, you can always call by-law (when you are parked in your driveway) and hopefully they get a lesson in on road parking.
Coke

[Canard]

Gotcha; I can't math.

So let's say a guest parks at 9:01pm. When in the morning do they have to move by?

Also, I hate the concept of "chalking" - it's essentially vandalism.

[panamaniac]

Gotcha; I can't math.

So let's say a guest parks at 9:01pm. When in the morning do they have to move by?

Also, I hate the concept of "chalking" - it's essentially vandalism.

OK, we all hate getting parking tickets, but calling a temporary chalk mark on your tire "vandalism"?  Really? 

[Canard]

It is. It's being defaced, however temporary you may think it. I absolutely hate when companies jam fliers under my windshield wipers because they've touched my car.

[ookpik]

Your vehicle is chalked (and licence plate and location entered in the handheld)

Why both, i.e. old-school chalk plus hi-tech recorded in handheld? And how do they know if you've moved your vehicle every 2h59m?

[Coke6pk]

Your vehicle is chalked (and licence plate and location entered in the handheld)

Why both, i.e. old-school chalk plus hi-tech recorded in handheld? And how do they know if you've moved your vehicle every 2h59m?

It is entered into the handheld so that the start time is entered into the system.  This would prevent an untoward officer "cutting corners" and issuing a ticket with less than 3 hours expired.

The chalk is to show that the vehicle hasn't moved in that 3 hours. (Chalk is on the tread, and it takes only 2 tire rotations to make it disappear.)  There were multiple times I returned, entered licence plate and it showed a violation, but in the absence of a chalk mark, there was no ticket issued.

Coke