Earlier this week, about 10 parents of minor hockey players went out to feed the parking metre at the Eddie Bush Arena in Collingwood’s downtown, to be greeted by a sea of yellow parking tickets clipped under their windshield wipers.
The issue, they say, is ramping up from their perspective, in a move they feel is frustrating and unnecessary.
Four different parents who received parking tickets on Nov. 6 while their kids were at hockey reached out to CollingwoodToday to talk about their frustration – including one Collingwood Minor Hockey Association coach who asked not to be named.
“It’s like my second or third (ticket) there,” said Magda Budrewicz, a parent to three kids who all play hockey in town. Two of her kids play between Central Park Arena and Eddie Bush.
Her oldest is in the under-10 league, so she estimates she’s been a hockey mom for about six years. She says she notes an uptick over the past two months in a stricter ticketing process.
“With my son playing U10 this year, they have an earlier practice and it’s our group of parents who usually end up with these tickets,” she said. “Honestly, we’re just rushing to pick up our kids from school and getting them there because there’s so little arena time in our town.”
Budrewicz’s son’s practice starts at 4:30 p.m.
Downtown paid parking – including at the Eddie Bush lot – is in effect Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., however, bylaw enforcement works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The current cost for parking is $1 per hour on Hurontario Street and 75 cents per hour in the lots and on the side streets.
People can pay for parking using a variety of options, including the HotSpot Parking App, QR code signs, or at a physical machine or meter.
Additionally, individuals can purchase a monthly parking permit for the lots at a cost of $55 per month.
Budrewicz says she feels arena time is a compounding factor to the frustration, as the parking lot adjacent to the Eddie Bush is free after 6 p.m. and if practices were later, it wouldn’t be an issue.
“There are more teams, so you need more ice time, and we’re going between the arenas more and starting practices earlier,” she said.
To try to make the process easier, Budrewicz says she has the HotSpot parking app. She tries to park her car, get the kids in the change room, get them settled and then add money to the virtual metre, but there have been occasions where it’s too late and a ticket has already been placed on her windshield.
“I have no problem adding money that way, but that time is just a rush. I have my three kids with me. At Central Park Arena, you don’t pay. You don’t pay at the library. You don’t pay at Centennial pool. These are all community things,” she said.
“It’s frustrating. They can make money other ways,” she added.
Budrewicz noted that when the teams travel to other towns, those towns have nice facilities with free parking, and wonders why Collingwood can’t have the same.
“This town does not have enough facilities for the number of kids we have. It’s silly,” she said.
Mark Bonta’s nine-year-old son plays for the Collingwood Blues under-9 team.
“They have practices two or three times a week and games a couple of times a week,” said Bonta. “The parking lot used to be free. Street parking used to be free.”
“What we’ve observed as parents is, on the evenings when we have practice, there’s a fairly robust ticketing process in play. It’s almost as if they know people are coming to use the arena,” he said. “I could understand if it’s a game night and people are coming from out of town, but these are all people who live and work in town, who have their kids in the public schools here. We’re using the rink because it’s the only one available. It feels like a ding.”
In response to questions about hockey parents' suggestions that there was more parking enforcement at Eddie Bush over the past few months, the town's acting manager of the bylaw services division, Adam Harrod, explained there were about 100 parking tickets issued town-wide in August and again in September.
In October, that number dropped to 70.
“The increase in the number of tickets in August and September can be attributed to many factors, including an increase in parking traffic and a decrease in compliance,” said Harrod.
As of now, Harrod confirmed that while the Collingwood Blues are given six parking passes annually for the lot, there are currently no user groups who get free parking passes.
Bonta notes that school ends for his son at 3:40 p.m., so the family’s routine is to grab the kids, feed them in the car, and race to the arena to get the kids geared up so they can hit the ice by 4:30 p.m.
“We’re always late, and it’s a bit of a rush,” he said.
Bonta says he’s received multiple tickets so far this season since September, most recently given a ticket on Nov. 6 at 4:20 p.m. when dropping his son at practice.
“Normally I pay for parking ... I got a ticket two weeks ago too when I parked and paid for the maximum: three hours. I got a ticket marked seven minutes after the three hours expired,” he said, noting he called customer service at that time about the issue and they waived the ticket.
Dustin Stanley’s six and eight-year-old sons both play hockey in town, and he says most of the parents he speaks with pay for parking, but that can add up when there are between two and four practices as well as games weekly.
“We can go anywhere else and not have to pay – it’s just that one rink,” he said. “It’s annoying. You don’t have to pay after 5 p.m. but they’ll come at 4:30 p.m. and give you a ticket.”
Stanley says an ideal outcome would be if the town could give parking passes to parents with kids enrolled in minor hockey or other activities at the Eddie Bush.
“We pay our hockey dues. Most of us pay our taxes here. The parking lot is almost empty after 4 p.m. anyway,” he said.
