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Parking Crackdown to Target Retail Owners, Employees

Ashley House, Simcoe Reformer
February 20, 2009

Parking police in the downtown core will be targeting business owners and employees, not shoppers.

The Downtown Simcoe Business Improvement Area is contracting a parking enforcement commissionaire to keep parking spots open in the downtown area.

"A big part of the parking problem are constant abusers," said BIA director Deb Murphy. "The people who work and live downtown, who park right in front of or around the corner from their business and sit there all day."

The proposal to hire Commissionaires Great Lakes for parking enforcement was unanimously supported at Tuesday's council meeting. If final approval is given at next week's meeting, downtown merchants and shoppers will see visible parking enforcement as early as April.

"It's as much about education as it is about enforcement," Murphy said. "The first two weeks, the commissionaire won't even be writing tickets. They'll be forming relationships with the business owners and shoppers and visitors -- explaining where they can and can't park, why, and bring people up to speed."

The parking police contract has not been entered into lightly, Murphy said. She is frequently met with parking complaints from downtown shoppers.

"Parking has been a constant issue," she said. "We can't trust the chronic abusers to do the right thing. We had to go to the next step."

Commissionaires Great Lakes expects a bit of frustration from the public.

"Quite often there is a bump in the beginning," said Jim Watts, CEO of Commissionaires Great Lakes. "But then it settles down and people come to realize they have to park legally and it usually goes pretty smoothly."

The Ingersoll BIA contracted Commissionaires to help with parking enforcement three years ago. Most of the tickets have been issued to those working downtown, parking over the time limit and not for actual parking infractions.

Mike Bowman, president of the Ingersoll BIA, said they had the same issue of merchants staying in prime parking locations, deterring shoppers from coming downtown.

"I'm not going to say it didn't cause hard feelings," Bowman told the Reformer. "But it's worked out well."

The not-for-profit business will be paid by the BIA with the revenue from the tickets issued. Parking enforcement will not operate on ticket quota.

"Absolutely not," Watts said, adding they will take cues from the BIA. "The whole notion of quotas is counter productive to our way of thinking. We're not issuing tickets for the sake of issuing tickets. And there is usually a grace period of five or 10 minutes."

Murphy said the commissionaire will be directed not to target shoppers.

"If he sees a car with the backseat packed with shopping bags and is a half hour over the limit he'll leave it alone," Murphy said. "That's the person we want to be downtown."

The BIA is hoping the enforcement will keep the parking turnaround at a better pace, much like it was before Norfolk County amalgamated and there was more enforcement.

County bylaw officers can now only afford three hours a week of enforcement in the core, while the commissionaire would be on duty Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"Initially there will be more tickets," Watts said. "But people will quickly realize to park legally."

Sarah Finch, owner of Serafina's on Norfolk Street, said the enforcement will change the way people park in the core.

"Once they start checking, there will be a big difference right away," she said.

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