Penticton reviewing resident parking passes after clandestine sales, public concerns

Black market parking passes

Photo: File photo

Penticton city hall

Penticton's previously free resident parking pass program will soon come with costs, as street spot shortage leads to clandestine sales.

The Resident Parking Only program, or RPO, was introduced in 2004, and went through several iterations since then.

Neighbourhoods designated as potentially high-traffic due to tourism, nearby events, commuters, employees or the like were designated as RPO zones, including the downtown core and Penticton Regional Hospital area.

Those roads were then subject to rules, requiring proof of residency to park there during certain time frames and with time limits.

Residents with proof of a registered vehicle have been issued free placards, up to two per household, as well as two free visitor placards for guests. That will now change.

Deanne Burleigh, bylaw services manager with the City of Penticton, spoke to council Tuesday presenting a pitch to start charging a $25 administrative fee for visitor placards, and a $25 fee for any lost, missing or damaged resident placards.

Burleigh also pitched that council direct city staff to develop a new RPO policy, with updated criteria and parameters as well as enforcement standards, to combat loose ends in the current practices.

"Currently, there's no standardized process for canceling or recovering placards when a resident or a tenant moves," Burleigh said.

"And what's happened here is this has resulted in misuse, including placards being sold privately, despite being issued free of charge."

Burleigh explained the total annual cost to the city of creating, administering and enforcing the placards each year is $45,000, $25,000 of which is enforcement.

A user-pay model would help cover that, to the tune of roughly $40,000 per year.

"The primary disadvantage of introducing fees is the financial impact on residents who have historically received these placards at no cost, and who will ask, 'Why should I have to pay?'" Burleigh said.

"[The placard program] continues to provide an option to residential properties faced with scarcity of on-street parking. However, there is not only an expectation on the city to provide assistance with this scarcity, there is also an expectation that residential properties address their own parking needs on their private property, while considering the needs of the broader community."

She called the issue of street parking a "very, very controversial subject at times," sometimes depending on neighbours.

Mayor Julius Bloomfield spoke in support of a review of the program, alluding that ongoing complaints may have been received regarding residential parking areas.

"I'm speaking personally, I think that this policy won't make the phone calls go away. They won't make the emails go away," Bloomfield said, adding it's good to have a plan.

"As long as there is robust reporting back to council on the progress of the implementation and the results and and everything attributed to that, just so that we can answer the questions that are going to come in from the public on the whole program. I think that's going to be important for council to have in their memory bank."

Council voted unanimously to for first, second and third readings for the proposed administrative fees for placards, and directed staff to do a further review of overall RPO policies. Current RPO placards will remain valid until March 31, 2026 to allow for the review, and council will make further decisions at a later date.