THUNDER BAY – Motorists faced with snowed in parking meters on Thunder Bay streets are not expected to climb over snowbanks to put money in the meter.
However, the head of the city’s parking authority said meter readers have been instructed to take it on a case-by-case basis.
Jonathan Paske on Thursday said they don’t want to ticket people who legitimately cannot access a parking meter.
“If parking meters are buried in snow or are very difficult to get to, we don’t expect people to pay at the meters. Don’t get me wrong. We don’t want people climbing over high snow banks just to get to the meter,” Paske said.
“But if there is a path to get to the meter our expectation is the meter will be paid.”
According to Paske, there are about 1,200 parking meters in the city and the roads division has done a pretty good job keeping them free of snow, where possible.
“We have heard some concerns though and we do take those into consideration if people do get a ticket and it shouldn’t have been the case. We try to work with them on the ticket.”
Paske said it’s a topic of discussion that will be brought up at the next Parking Authority Board meeting.
“Just to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone is in agreement.”
Paske added that since going public about a recent rash of parking meter thefts, the incidents have died down, noting the city has taken a number of precautions to cut back on the smash-and-grabs. The city is also considering on-street payment stations that would cover multiple spots in the surrounding area.
