An all-day winter parking ban on any street in the Amik subdivision is now in place.
At its meeting on Feb. 7, Grey Highlands council unanimously passed a bylaw to ban parking on Amik Streets all day during the winter months.
The ban on parking came about after a municipal snow plow ended up in the ditch because too many cars were parked on the narrow Amik streets during a snowstorm.
“It was a thousand-dollar tow bill,” said Mayor Paul McQueen.
Municipal staff recommended the full parking ban because the Amik streets are too small for snow plows to maneuver around cars parked on the streets when snow is being cleared.
Chris Cornfield, director of transportation and public spaces, said communications have gone out to local residents about the new parking rules. He said he had received some feedback from local residents with concerns about how the parking ban was going to impact how they have guests to their homes.
Cornfield said he stood by his report on the matter and said the parking ban was necessary.
“The street itself is a challenge. We have no control over a winter event,” he said.
Overflow public parking is available in Amik at a special lot at the base of the hill. Cornfield said that the overflow lot is somewhat small, but staff would look at ways to expand it in the summer months.
Cornfield said staff were willing to look at other options to alleviate the plow/parking issue in the future.
“I truly respect the comments from the residents there,” he said. “This will disrupt how they receive visitors to their homes.”
