Parking Tickets

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Paul S
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Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:27 pm
Location: Edmonton

Parking Tickets

Post by Paul S »

Well I just got my second ever parking ticket since I've owned a scooter. The first one was many years ago when i was a new scooterist and I paid the City Bylaw fine as I agreed I probably could have found a better spot.

This time I don't know...

I parked outside of Southgate Mall on the sidewalk by the ramp going to the parked level 2. It is on the sidewalk but there is a spot by the building that juts in and you can park the scooter with impeding pedestrians using the sidewalk. There are no signs here saying no motorcycle/scooter parking. There are signs I know by the Safeway that is attached to the building.

Anyway, I have parked here a number of times now and this is the first ticket I have received there. I saw the yellow slip and thought it was a warning but it was a $52 ticket from Diamond Parking Services.

Researching what my options are I come across this article:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.1298177

I'm not in the same boat as these people but there is one statement from DPS that states:

"Our philosophy is to assume that a motorist making an appeal is acting in good faith and if it is a first notice that is being disputed, we tend to offer relief," wrote Poirier.

So I am hoping that if I appeal I may be successful.

Any other thoughts/advice/chuckles/finger-wagging?

Paul
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jbcollier
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Post by jbcollier »

It's illegal to park on a sidewalk period. We all do it on occasion but sometimes we get caught. I'd pay myself.
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Macgyyver
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Post by Macgyyver »

Wouldn't that be private property… and perhaps they haven't considered that a scooter area might save them spots for cars…? Maybe treat it as an Educational mission!
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Paul S
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Location: Edmonton

Post by Paul S »

I am prepared to pay the fine but I did send in a written appeal. On that day I actually pulled into a regular spot but the lot was a zoo because it was iPhone launch day. I decided to park instead in my little hidden spot instead for my scooters safety and to free up a spot for a car. I asked them to consider (or to forward to the mall) creating a zone for motorcycles/scooters which doesn't need to be near the entrance but just a place where all of our two-wheel rides are a bit safer.

I will see what happens and if I get any response at all.
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Paul S
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Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:27 pm
Location: Edmonton

Post by Paul S »

So an update. I sent an email to the Parking Service company with my appeal to the ticket but also more importantly to talk to them about allocating some space for motorcycle and scooter parking. They emailed me back and said I had to talk to the mall Director of Security to get the ticket cancelled. I assume they don't care nor have any interest in the space allocation idea. They just monitor the lots they have contracts with.

So I dropped by Southgate yesterday to meet with the Director of Security. He was just leaving for home and not in his office at the moment so I spoke with him on the phone and agreed to come back the next day to speak to him.

I went down there today and caught him in a meeting. So I had lunch in the food court until he was free and then went to meet him. I explained my situation which I didn't expect much sympathy for. I did have a good talk with him though on the idea to create some motorcycle/scooter areas around the mall. He said he had a meeting tomorrow in regards to parking so he would bring it up. He said I wasn't the first person to bring this up so maybe it is something that will see the light of day eventually. He said he couldn't make any promises of course.

So he wouldn't cancel the ticket and I din't argue the point at all. I just wanted to plant a seed for them to create a nice safe area for us to park our rides. I use the free motorcycle parking zones quite a bit downtown and I hope we start to see more around the city.
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jbcollier
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Post by jbcollier »

Thanks, sounds good.
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