Participants of a road hockey tournament in Halifax last weekend say parking enforcement went out of their way to hand out parking tickets during the event.
Trevor White drove from Port Hawkesbury to take his son to Play On!. While they didn't leave with any trophies, they did leave with a $140 fine.
“I had a ticket within five minutes and they towed my car within about 45 minutes,” said White. “The signs were very hard to read and the trees were blocking it, and it's very, very frustrating.”
The city says three other vehicles were towed away and 280 parking tickets were handed out on Saturday and Sunday. That includes 70 against drivers who decided to park on the grass of the Halifax Common.
City councillor Waye Mason hears complaints about parking all the time.
“Parking enforcement has been ramped up in the last three years, which means that people are getting more tickets,” said Mason.
Drivers wish the city would be more lenient – especially during major events.
“When there's something going on people have to find somewhere to park, and there's a lot of people who come in from outside the city,” said one driver.
“I'm from another city. It's the same problem. Anytime there's a big event you can't find places to park,” said another driver.
City officials say there are plenty of options.
“Being so close to downtown Halifax, a number of parking garages are also available. On-street parking is free on the weekends,” said HRM spokesperson Tiffany Chase. “We certainly can't have people parking in crosswalks, too close to corners, and in bus stops, which is what we were seeing on the weekend.”
White admits he was in a no-parking zone, but says he wasn't obstructing anything.
“It would definitely make me think twice about coming to Halifax, especially for events like that.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Matt Woodman.
