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Niagara Falls
Friday, March 29, 2024
Editorial: Russian roulette and overnight parking

Overnight parking in Niagara-on-the-Lake has turned into a form of Russian roulette of late.

Will the parking gendarmes be out in the middle of the night to slap a ticket on your windshield? Or will you be lucky and escape unscathed?

Any law should be applied as evenly and fairly as possible. For years now, like many municipalities, NOTL has had a 2 to 6 a.m. parking ban on the books. But, as even a past staff report says, it has been “rendered obsolete” because it was never enforced. Until a few weeks ago, it seems.

So why is this happening? What has changed? Quotas? Eager new officers?

How is it fair to NOTL residents for the town to actively disregard the overnight parking bylaw for years and then change the game by suddenly starting to tag cars? 

If it seems whimsical, arbitrary and unfair, that’s because it is. Coun. Erwin Weins notes in our story on the parking bylaw that the town has more important things to consider than revisiting the old statute.

He might be right. But let’s start by turning back the clock and calling off the overnight parking enforcement brigade.

editor@niagaranow.com

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