'Hindsight being 20/20,' city will refund 82 tickets handed out downtown on Saturdays
Those who received ticket during 2-hours free parking confusion should call 311, says City of Winnipeg
Dozens of Winnipeggers hit with parking tickets downtown this month have received a late holiday gift from the city, although in addition to quashing their tickets some say what they'd really like is clarity.
The Winnipeg Parking Authority said in a statement Wednesday it will refund parking tickets handed out downtown on Saturdays between Dec. 2 and Dec. 23, 2017. From now on, the parking authority will not issue tickets within the first two hours of downtown on-street parking between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. CT on Saturdays, excluding hospital zones.
The city said anyone who received a ticket should call 311 with their ticket number to begin the cancellation process.
"I think they should definitely reverse everyone's tickets regardless of the appeals process," said Jeremy Clemens-Mierau, one of more than 80 drivers ticketed for parking in the area in December.
Confusion stemmed from a sticker on all downtown parking meters that says "2 hours complimentary on Saturday."
Clemens-Mierau took issue with being ticketed, citing a discrepancy between the payment rules posted on downtown parking meters and a bylaw the city says has been on the books for a decade.
"Some communication would be nice," said Clemens-Mierau.
"The machine said, 'Two hours complimentary,' so this sort of interpretation of, 'Well, complimentary means complimentary after you've paid,' seemed like I should be able to argue that."
A City of Winnipeg spokesperson told CBC News in an emailed statement that the two-hour complimentary parking on Saturday applied after "maximum on-street paid parking is purchased."
That policy has been in place for more than 10 years and was continued after a report in 2012, city officials said.
"Earlier this year, it was brought to the WPA's attention that some members of the public found the information related to the program unclear, and as a result, the WPA updated its website," said the city's emailed statement.
"It is acknowledged that the wording contained on both the stickers affixed to the downtown pay stations and the updated information on the website led to further confusion."
On Tuesday, Councillor Jeff Browaty called for city administration to refund or cancel the tickets handed out.
Drivers feel misled
Winnipeg resident Kali Martin said she witnessed cars being ticketed Dec. 23 and asked the parking attendant handing out tickets why since she believed the first two hours of parking were free.
She said the attendant told her that wasn't the case and to check the Winnipeg city website, which had the rule posted under Meter Payment Methods.
Clemens-Mierau had a similar experience. He parked on a street in the Exchange and returned to his vehicle less than two hours later to find tickets on his windshield and about a dozen others on the street, he said.
He caught up to a parking officer who said there had been a recent change to the rules, and she advised him to check the parking authority website, Clemens-Mierau said.
"It definitely seemed like she had already gotten some pushback on this, because just right out of the gate, even before I was really even strenuously arguing with her, she was like, 'Actually, I'm not the one who makes the rules,'" said Clemens-Mierau.
"I'm like, 'Yeah, OK, fine, I'm not actually annoyed with you, I'm just trying to wrap my head around this rule you're describing to me.'"
At that point Clemens-Mierau decided he would appeal the ticket.
Vague policy: Topolniski
Randy Topolniski, the chief operating officer of the Winnipeg Parking Authority, spoke to media Wednesday and agreed the policy was vague.
"The actual policy was to provide two hours of complimentary parking, period. That's why there's been the ambiguity and that's why we tried in 2012 to resolve some of those.
"In 2012, if you look at the report, it was very clear, it was to continue the current practice. And the current practice at the time was to provide two hours of complimentary parking, with no clarification."
When asked if people were getting ticketed unfairly all those years, Topolniski said no.
"Prior to November, the change in late November of this year, the way that our enforcement folks have always dealt with this ... if an enforcement officer came upon a vehicle, they would look to see if there's payment on the dash, and if there wasn't, they would chalk the vehicle and come back in two hours in additional payment for the time that they stayed beyond.
"Conversely, if they came and saw that there was a receipt, they would add an extra two hours and come back in four hours ... [to] issue a ticket."
In November, the department tried to clarify when people should have to pay for parking, said Topolniski, and updated their website.
Normally, the department would start by issuing warning tickets. However, enforcement officers started issuing tickets right away, said Topolniski.
Topolniski said council wasn't notified because the city's policy had not changed. Instead, the enforcement and interpretation of the policy changed. The department will be issuing a report for council's review to clarify the rules, he added.
About 82 tickets were issued under the new enforcement, said Topolniski, and they were all cancelled or refunded by Monday morning.
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With files from Jacques Marcoux and Bryce Hoye