Do Bylaw Officers Understand Parking Concept?

Using 2 Hour FREE Parking Spot

Saturday morning found me downtown enjoying one of the many great spots for coffee and conversation. Being frugal or as my wife says cheap, I always try to snag one of the free 2 hour parking spots on Victoria Crescent.

I was lucky enough to grab a spot two cars behind this City of Nanaimo Bylaw Enforcement vehicle which was occupying one of the 'free' spots right across from the community policing office on Victoria Crescent. The vehicle was there when I arrived and still there when I left one hour and fifty minutes later.

Now, of course the City of Nanaimo has no worries about getting a parking ticket if they occupy this spot for more than two hours, but that was not what really bugged me. I know, I know, I should take a chill pill and let it go, right?

Well, that is just not my nature and it steams me a little that the new $31.00/hr. meter maids we have hired to enforce parking downtown and be 'ambassadors' for the city don't seem to understand the concept behind FREE 2 hr. parking and how it is supposed to work to the benefit of merchants downtown.

The concept behind having a two hour restriction on the parking spaces is to insure people will not occupy the spots too long, thereby giving others wanting to do business downtown the chance to use the FREE parking spots. The alternative being plugging a one armed bandit occupying most of the downtown parking zones.

Clearly this bylaw officer could have occupied one of the metered spots on Albert Street, or for that matter the empty parking lot at city hall rather than burning up this FREE 2 hr. parking spot which is supposed to be for the benefit of struggling downtown merchants.

It is too bad that $60,000+/yr. meter maids aren't schooled in this concept!