Forest Lawn residents have struck a petition for a residential parking permit program to address congestion from surrounding schools and facilities.
According to the City’s guidelines, the petition must be signed by a minimum of two-thirds of all households for the area in question. After the City receives a successful petition, it will engage residents directly to confirm whether households are in support.
If the permit program starts up, permits are issued to each licence plate, and can’t be transferred between vehicles. Each household can receive up to two visitor parking permits.
Other St. Albert residents facing similar problems — such as those living around Bellerose Composite High School in Deer Ridge — have already implemented the program.
On April 7, cars were parked bumper-to-bumper on both sides of the street down Forest Lawn and on Falcon Crescent.
Guy Morin, a petition supporter, said the congestion that day wasn’t the worst of it.
“The students are in exams right now — you should see in winter when the snow banks block out the road entirely,” Morin said.
Linda Rebalkin and Doris Ledi, Morin’s neighbours and fellow petition supporters, said it’s difficult for Handibus Service to get to residents in the area. Rebalkin said of a neighbour of hers who lives on Falcon Crescent has had to push out to Forest Drive in his wheelchair in -25 C weather as a result of the congestion.
All three said litter in the neighbourhood is at an all-time high. Drivers from outside the area often park and dump garbage out of their vehicles, Morin said, and frequently block residents in their driveways.
Though the trio said issues have been compounded by the construction of a new Paul Kane High School to replace the existing one, traffic issues in the area have been mounting as the city grows, and they don't see a sign of the growth slowing.
Ledi, Morin, and Rebalkin expressed concern about the Active Communities twin rink facility — which is proposed for land behind Paul Kane High School — driving even more traffic into the area.
“The parking situation is bad enough,” Ledi said. “We have two schools, we have a daycare, and a swimming pool … I don’t mind the traffic, but it’s also about the noise and the speed.”
The pro-petition residents said they’re worried about ambulances and fire trucks being unable to get to a neighbour in need.
“We need our fire, we need our ambulances, we need our garbage picked up,” Morin added. “And we don’t need to be running around picking up their garbage off our lawn.”
Construction underway at Paul Kane
Petitioners said the additional 300 student spots the new Paul Kane High School is set to bring in are concerning, as additional students mean more congestion.
Paula Power, communications manager for St. Albert Public, said when the new school opens, there will be "significantly more parking stalls," though Power did not have the exact number.
"Hopefully the pressure on the side streets will lift and ease significantly when the construction is done, because we won't have the workers needing to find a place to park and we'll have much more student parking available in the school as well," Power said.
She said the school also added a parking lot beside the division office to help alleviate pressure in the interim, which 50 students have since begun using. Power said the school also regularly makes announcements to students, and sends the parking bylaw home to families, in addition to the principal walking around during school hours to check if students are adhering to bylaws.
"We certainly understand residents' frustration," Power said. "We're trying to do all we can on our end."
City responds to complaints
Municipal Enforcement Services with the City of St. Albert received and responded to six parking complaints from Forest Lawn residents related to Paul Kane High School parking, City spokesperson Alex Cunningham said in an email Tuesday.
Cunningham said four of the complaints were founded, and tickets were issued.
Additionally, the City has been patrolling Paul Kane High School and issuing tickets; in 2022, they gave out 15.
Cunningham said the City has engaged with Forest Lawn residents concerned about the overuse of street parking by non-residents, and have shared the details of the residential parking permit program, but to date have not received an application.
