Moncton city council to address parking boot issue
Gabrielle Fahmy | CBC News | Posted: July 18, 2016 8:22 PM | Last Updated: July 18, 2016
Booting is common practice used by many private parking lots on unauthorized vehicles in the downtown area
City council is expected to vote Monday on whether to give a new committee the green light to look into Moncton's parking boot problems.
Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold is recommending creation of the committee and has sent a letter to the province's union of municipalities asking for support.
After she was elected in May, Arnold identified booting as one of her top priorities.
"I think we'll get on that and [cut] the red tape," she said.
Booting is common practice in Moncton, where about two thirds of the private parking lots in the downtown area use a metal clamp, called a boot, to immobilize unauthorized vehicles, then charge the owner a fee to have the device removed.
'It gives our city a bad name'
Anne Poirier Basque, executive director of Downtown Moncton, says motorists have to understand they cannot park anywhere they choose.
"I don't think that you go to any city ... and decide that you're going to park wherever you want," she said.
"Booting does give our city a bad name."
However, some Moncton residents say not all the blame should fall on drivers and that parking zones are sometimes unclear in the downtown area of the city.
Downtown Moncton responded to those complaints by installing larger signs in many of the private parking lots, but that's done little to appease the frustration of residents such as Stéphane Lagacé of Dieppe.
"I would agree to a ticket or something, give me a fine, but don't boot my car," he said.
And Moncton resident Mitchell Alexander says having to pay the fine on the spot can be difficult.
"It's kind of inconvenient that somebody on the spot has just to come up with $80, $160, whatever it is," he said.
A company that monitors 14 private lots, Parking Solution Inc., says it will fight any plans by the city to limit booting but declined to make further comment when contacted on Monday.