$89 parking fine ridiculous

Recently, my 86-year-old mother and I ventured into downtown Kelowna to meet family for dinner. 

Something we don’t do very often anymore for safety reasons. We were given no choice but to ‘risk’ parking at the north edge of the Impark lot between Leon and Lawrence avenues because there was no street parking available in the general area. 

This was shortly after 6 p.m. on a Saturday night. There were no other vehicles parked in the lot – I should have taken this as a sign. 

Literally, one minute after parking, while we were still inside the vehicle, a homeless person was rapping on my driver’s window gesturing that he wanted money or cigarettes. I wasn’t about to ask him to find out. 

I could have/should have left at this point, but we remained in the vehicle and waited for the young man to wander off before feeling safe enough to run across the street to the restaurant. Upon returning to my vehicle, I noticed a parking ticket on my windshield (time 6:18 p.m.) and then noticed the signage stating that the lot was patrolled 24 hours. 

My mistake for assuming that after 6 p.m. on a Saturday parking was free. What I was completely shocked by was the ticket was for $89.25! 

I thought that it couldn’t be right, so I called Impark Monday morning and was told there was nothing they could do about it, but I could pay the ticket within five days for a reduced amount of $78.25. Are they kidding? 

If the ticket was for a reasonable amount ($30), I would have paid it almost immediately. I won’t be paying this ticket. 

What is going on in this city? If the downtown wasn’t dead to me before, it sure is now.

Lana Evans, Kelowna