Court upholds Whitehorse airport parking rule

A Yukon court has endorsed new, stricter parking rules at the Whitehorse airport.

Signs at the terminal warn against parking in the drop off and pick up zone, but security guards have the discretion to allow attended vehicles to linger. 

Whitehorse resident Jerome McIntyre challenged the ambiguous rule in court this week.

McIntyre arrived at the airport to pick up relatives earlier this year. The sign outside the terminal reads: "No parking. Immediate pickup or drop off only." He saw other vehicles parked at the curb and assumed they were being given at least a minute's grace.

McIntrye also assumed he could use that minute to walk inside and check if a flight was on time. He did, only to return seconds later to find a ticket on his vehicle.

In court this week, McIntyre argued any reasonable person would assume the sign allowed for time to walk in and out of the terminal, as it makes no distinction for unattended vehicles.

In his ruling Friday morning, Judge Peter Chisholm said with the technology available there's no reason travellers could not be waiting curbside for rides.

Chisholm acknowledged the security discretion that allows attended vehicles to park much longer than others, but ordered McIntyre must pay the $57 fine.

Since the new restrictions were imposed at the airport, two years ago, the government has ticketed more than 2,000 vehicles.