Fredericton parents fighting $125 parking ticket at youth football practice

CBC

4 days ago

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Jillian and Jody Shealy have spent the past two decades cheering their kids on from the sidelines of just about every sport that's offered in the city, taking them to rinks, fields and arenas across the greater Fredericton area.
And they've never gotten a parking ticket.
But one night last month, the Shealys were shocked to find a $125 ticket tucked under their windshield wiper — along with about a dozen other cars — while parked in their usual spot along the driveway next to the Scotiabank South Turf.
When comparing notes with other families attending the football practice, Jillian Shealy said they realized parking enforcement officers "were coming back every hour on the hour to catch new people."
"It just quite honestly seemed like a money grab from middle-class people," she said. "It's a very ugly thing to do to tax-paying citizens."
Shealy is one of several parents fighting the parking tickets, arguing there is insufficient signage along one side of the entrance to warn it was designated as a fire lane. The city's bylaw states signs must be "spaced no less than 25 metres apart."
The main parking lot is often full, she said, so parents regularly park on the side of the driveway that doesn't have any posted "fire lane" signs.
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Shealy said she understands why fire lanes need to be kept clear, but said nobody knew it was a fire lane. After years of using the driveway as overflow parking, she said everyone was caught off guard.
"If you have any respect for your citizens, launch a warning campaign," she said.
Mobile parking unit
Nathan Doucette, Transit and Parking Operations supervisor for the City of Fredericton, said he's "not sure why exactly those signs are missing. It could be because of vandalism. It could be because they're missing or stolen."
He said the city is "currently working with other city departments just to review our signage to ensure that it is up to date."
"If there's any deficiencies, we'll make sure that we get that looked at immediately," he said.
In 2017, the city contracted a third-party security company to deal with parking violations outside the downtown. In January 2023, the city switched to GardaWorld, with mobile enforcement officers working Monday to Saturday, from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.
Municipal bylaw fines related to parking brought in more than $380,000 last year, from GardaWorld and City of Fredericton staff.
Doucette said "there's no real explanation for why they're getting tickets for the first time," but said the city continuously works with the contractor "to ensure that they are offering the best amount of service that we expect throughout the city."
He said it comes down to public safety.
"We want to keep what's deemed as a fire lane 100 per cent accessible to fire and emergency vehicles. Because in the case of a Grant-Harvey, where you could have several thousand people attend an event, we want to make sure that the safety of communities are the number 1 priority."
Doucette said there's lots of parking near recreational areas, but that "it just may not be right next to the field that you want to be at and may not be right next to the building you need to be at.
"We just ask that if you are going to park, you just be mindful of signage, be mindful of where you're parking. That way, in case we have an emergency, we can get the emergency vehicles in there and not have to worry about people being illegally parked."
Jody Shealy believes the fines were a heavy-handed approach for new enforcement. He said he'll be fighting the ticket out of principle.
"We're certainly the type of people that like to fly under the radar and not speed, not park in places we're not supposed to park. But when you don't even know that you're doing something wrong, that's, I think, just the unfairness of it all."