Some cars escaping tickets and towing during street cleaning, according to councillor
Sean Chu says he's getting complaints that cars are left in place when city crews sweep through
This is something you don't hear everyday: some councillors are upset that more residents aren't having their cars towed from city streets.
That's because the spring sweeping of Calgary's collective winter mess is well underway and apparently the promised vehicle relocations aren't happening in all cases.
"I got lots and lots of calls and email asking me why when my street is being cleaned but a lot of vehicles still parked there, and then afterwards they come out and still have a lot of gravel on the road," said Coun. Sean Chu.
The city started ticketing and towing vehicles in 2015 and upped the fines in 2016 from $50 to $120.
Lack of staff
Mac Logan, the general manager of transportation, said there's a reason some vehicles might be escaping without punishment.
"We do not have enough parking authority and tow crews to go out with all of the street cleaning crews, so there are neighbourhoods where we are not able to tow vehicles everyday," he said.
"We have towed — I think it's close to 1,000 vehicles already — so there is a lot of towing happening."
Thanks to a mild winter and warm spring, the city is already 89 per cent through this year's cleanup.
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With files from Scott Dippel