Rooting out parking cheats

Photo: Contributed

The City of Kelowna is looking to stop parking cheats.

As part of a parking strategy for the Kelowna General Hospital area, parking manager Dave Duncan says the city is looking at ways to stop fraudulent use of visitor parking permits.

Duncan said residents around the hospital can get blanket visitor passes, but they are sometimes mis-used.

"We've seen those being rented out to (hospital) staff. We've seen people come in and report they lost theirs to get another one," said Duncan.

"We've started looking at things other towns are doing, but a lot of it would involve a fair bit of work to change it. Whether it's a way where, when you have a visitor come over, you either phone in or go online, put their plate number in and how long they're staying."

The city is trying to alleviate the parking crunch around KGH.

The plan, lauded by council, would see full-time metered parking introduced to the south side of Royal Avenue adjacent to the hospital, while 12-hour pay parking (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) would be added to Abbott Street and Rose Avenue.

One-hour parking, permanent resident only, and overnight resident-only parking would be implemented on other streets, depending on their proximity to the hospital.

If endorsed by council, the changes would come in early 2017.

Mayor Colin Basran noted initiatives undertaken during the past half dozen years around the hospital have significantly reduced the number of infractions.

They have dropped from a high of nearly 7,900 in 2010 to an estimated 2,700 this year.

"I think that speaks volumes to the amount of work that's already been done, and I believe what's going to be incorporated with these changes will hopefully reduce that even further," he said.