It won’t be long before the snow starts to fly, and with the snow comes complaints about narrow streets and parking bans in the Halifax area.
Mayor Mike Savage is trying to address both problems with a single solution and develop a new strategy to keep the streets clear, without taking away all the parking places downtown.
Much like last year, efforts will be made this year to impose the parking ban only when absolutely necessary.
In recent years, city officials have been bombarded with complaints from residents who have no place to park overnight in the winter, and from those who awake to find their car towed.
Despite the backlash, the director of Public Works for HRM Ken Reashor refuses to apologize for the winter parking ban.
"If you bought a boat, you'd want to make sure you have a place to put it in the water, so, if you buy a property and you have a car you need to make arrangements, because the street isn't your personal parking lot," says Reashor.
Many city drivers have also complained in the past about being blindsided by the ban, and the city is hoping to fix that.
Reashor says Halifax is setting up automated email and phone messages to inform residents when the ban is in effect.
“Register with city watch and they can provide two phone numbers and two emails, to get notification about the ban," he says.
The city hopes the automated messages will get more cars off the streets and reduce the number of complaints it receives.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw
