BARRHEAD – The Town of Barrhead council may have come up with a solution to the parking congestion issue on 57th Avenue or Rodeo Drive in the summer.
However, councillors and nearby residents will not know what that solution is or when it will come until after the 2022 budget deliberations next spring.
On Sept. 28, councillors unanimously instructed administration to bring forward a plan to create angled parking on a portion of the street. Councillors would then debate the merits of the plan, as well as any alternatives, during the budget deliberations, on when the municipality will proceed with the 57th Avenue rehabilitation project.
Chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc said with a relatively small addition to the rehabilitation project they can add angled parking to a portion of the road.
"On our 10-year Capital Plan, the road is scheduled for rehabilitation in 2024, with the preliminary budget of $650,000," he said, as part of his report on the state of parking on the roadway.
Councillors asked for the report during their Sept. 14 meeting, after a discussion initiated by Coun. Dausen Kluin. Later in the meeting, the report was accepted as information.
Kluin said he received inquiries from residents in the area complaining about the number of vehicles parking on both sides of the road and the connecting alleys late at night and on weekends, especially during the baseball season.
Under the Traffic Bylaw (03-2021) parking is prohibited on the north side of Rodeo Drive between 46 and 48th Street. No other parking restrictions are stated.
As a result, he said, travellers were finding it difficult to use the roadway, noting that often the street would be so narrow that traffic would be restricted to one lane.
LeBlanc added that for an additional $70,000, the municipality could build up the ditch next to the Agricultural Society's grounds on the north side and pave the resulting shoulder to create a section of angle parking.
On the south side, parallel parking would be allowed.
He also said that depending on council's decisions construction could begin in 2022, with completion possibly before the start of the baseball season.
"That would accommodate the sports activities at the sportsgrounds as well as anything the Agricultural Society was holding," he said.
Mayor Dave McKenzie said he liked the additional parking the plan would make available, asking how many angled parking stalls could be accommodated.
LeBlanc was not sure.
Coun. Ty Assaf asked if administration had come up with a "Plan B" if council chose not to accelerate the Rodeo Drive rehabilitation project. Smith agreed, adding there were less costly temporary fixes, such as filling in the previously mentioned ditch that runs parallel to the rodeo grounds to create the angled parking stalls.
He added that unless the municipality creates more parking, Barrhead Sportsgrounds users would continue to ignore no parking restrictions.
"Council has two options; either we amend the bylaw and allow them to continue to park there or we leave the signs up. Then we need to start issuing tickets ... but we all know we aren't going to go down that road," Smith said.
McKenzie agreed, noting attempting to enforce it would just cause "more grief."
Kluin said the status quo wasn't an option.
"I don't want us just to amend the bylaw and leave it like it is," he said.
McKenzie suggested they table discussion on amending the Traffic Bylaw until after the budget deliberations.
"By then, we will know if we are dealing with angled or parallel parking and we will only have to amend the bylaw once,"he said.
Bylaw enforcement
Kluin asked administration what the extra costs would be if the municipality added the occasional evening and weekend shift to the community peace officer's (CPO) schedule.
He said that many of the complaints residents have about bylaw infractions happen in the evenings or weekends when the CPO is not working.
Currently, the peace officer works Monday to Friday, during business or school hours.
McKenzie interjected that the Alberta Solicitor's General office set limits on when CPOs can work, saying he believed the latest an officer could work was 9 p.m.
"I think it is important to note that their mandate is not criminal control," he said.
Kluin responded he wasn't suggesting that the CPO attempt to apprehend a thief but enforce municipal bylaws, reiterating many noise and parking complaints the town receives are after business hours.
Coun. Rod Klumph agreed, asking if the RCMP can enforce bylaws, using the example of the town's noise bylaw and a late-night party.
McKenzie said police do have the authority to enforce bylaws.
But he said if the RCMP were to respond, they are more likely to look to the criminal code to deal with the previously mentioned noisy house party.
"[They could charge someone for] obstructing or interfering with the enjoyment of property," McKenzie said.
