Although Okanagan beach was frenzied with locals and tourists all summer, the city’s bylaw didn’t have to crack the whip too often for parking violations.
Last year, the City of Penticton implemented a three-hour timed parking limit for the stalls along the beach, much to the chagrin of the community. Vehicles were prohibited from parking from midnight to 5 a.m. and were only permitted to park for three hours in a stall between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., daily from June to September.
READ MORE: Passing up paid parking on Penticton’s lakeshore
But according to Tina Siebert, bylaw supervisor with the city, even in the first year of this change, they only issued three tickets and 15 warnings.
Now that September has hit and the parking changes have lifted, the numbers from this year show that most drivers are obeying the city’s bylaw. Siebert said this summer they only issued “approximately 10 warnings in this area for over parking, and only a few tickets.”
READ MORE: New parking changes in downtown Penticton
When asked what would cause an escalation from receiving a warning to receiving a ticket, Siebert said it’s officer discretion.
“We can tell which vehicles have received tickets before or not, out of province plates, etc. So there are lots of factors the officers consider when issuing a ticket,” said Siebert.
In a resident survey, conducted in 2017 by the city, the majority of respondents said the city shouldn’t expand pay parking to the Lakeshore or Riverside — 64 per cent opposed it, and only 10 per cent were in support. The remaining 26 per cent only supported pay parking with restrictions like residents being exempt.
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<>Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
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