Charlottetown may stop issuing overnight parking alerts this winter
'The bylaw is in effect and park at your own risk on streets in the city'
The City of Charlottetown may scrap its snow alert system that informs residents when plows will be out and the overnight parking ban will be enforced.
On-street parking in the city is prohibited between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. from Nov. 15 to April 15 each year. The city said restrictions are enforced on a discretionary basis as snow plowing and clearing or de-icing needs to take place.
Based on the weather forecast, the city — through an app, social media or its website — would alert residents in the afternoon that the parking ban would be enforced that night.
However, Scott Adams, Charlottetown's manager of public works, said it was challenging to administer and would sometimes lead to confusion, especially when the forecast would change and trucks were sent out with no alert issued.
If vehicles had to be towed so the plows could get down the street, residents would take issue because they weren't notified through the alert, he said.
"So our recommendation is, you know, remind residents the bylaw is in effect and park at your own risk on streets in the city during the overnight hours, so it takes the ambiguity around it and it's just banned every night," he said.
Adams said if council agrees to scrap the snow alert system, the city will do a media campaign to inform residents of the change.