Drivers in Garneau are angry after the city admits that it ticketed, even towed, their vehicles because of the roving winter parking ban - but without giving them any warning.
"I had this ticket saying I owed fifty bucks," said Brian Moskowitz, who parked legally in the neighbourhood Sunday night.
A few hours later, the city put up its temporary parking ban signs.
The roving parking ban is to allow city plows to deal with the windrows that have collected on the side of Edmonton streets.
However, drivers are supposed to get 24 hours warning before the ban goes into effect. The city admits that didn’t happen in this case; bylaw officers were supposed to ticket the vehicles Tuesday, but instead hit the neighbourhood a day early.
In all, 40 cars were tagged or towed.
"These signs came sometime after midnight,” said Garneau resident Bill Horner.
“It was brought to my attention by a neighbour just down the street here - every car is ticketed. Now why would you ticket a car when you just put the signs up?"
The city admits that the tickets should never have been given out.
"We had a miscommunication and we have corrected that," said Bob Dunford, director of roadway maintenance.
The winter parking ban was first tested by the city last year, but this year marks the first time bylaws officers won’t be offering complimentary tows when the ban is in place.
The city says it aims to do more to warn people about the ban and lists the neighbourhoods that the ban will hit next on its website.
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