An open letter to Mayor Nolan Crouse:
I live in St. Albert. I work in St. Albert. I pay taxes to the City of St. Albert. I park in the lot between St. Anne and Perron streets. There is limited parking space for anyone having to park all day in downtown.
The city has its employee parking areas, there are two-hour parking spots, and spaces with unlimited time. When I arrive in downtown St. Albert to start work, I am usually fortunate enough to locate a parking spot where I can park all day, because I work all day. Occasionally, I have had to park in the two-hour parking area. This means that I have to leave work within two hours in order to find a new spot for another possibly two hours and so on and so on.
This continues until I locate a space in the all-day parking rows. Being winter months when the parking lot is plowed, snow is conveniently piled in an all-day parking row which takes up about three to four car spaces, making it even harder to get a space and park for the day. Why is the snow not piled in the City of St. Albert employee parking area or in the two-hour parking area. Can you see my point here?
Last week I received a $40 parking ticket (which increases to $60 if not paid within seven days). I cannot afford to pay this ticket any more than I could afford to pay the previous two tickets I have had while working and parking in downtown St. Albert. It is unfair that being unable to leave work in order to relocate my car results in a penalty from the city.
You want people to come to downtown St. Albert, you want to revitalize the downtown area — how can the “cash cow” of parking tickets help that idea?
Why should downtown employees be penalized for attempting to park while they are working? What is the point of a two-hour parking area right beside an all-day parking area?
As you are an elected official, I hope you would care more about your citizens and your downtown area. Based on the amount of snow we received this winter and the necessity of piling it, I would like you to look into this matter and cancel my ticket.
Barbara Stamp, St. Albert
