Tauranga's parking woes are only getting worse. Photo / File
By the time you read this, sports courts and pitches will be quiet, marquees pulled down, supermarket shelves emptied and thousands of bed sheets will be lying on the floor in need of a wash.
AIMS Games will have left the region millions of dollars richer as participants return home with priceless memories of sporting wins, losses and team bonding.
Wouldn't it be sad if spectators, many of whom are parents taking time off from responsibilities at work and home, got stung with a unexpected bill during the games?
I'm not talking about Johnny's extra burger or Jane's last-minute need for socks (because she forgot to bring hers).
I'm talking about parking fines.
A friend I'll call Ann tried to park on Monday in the industrial area of Tauranga's Judea to watch gymnastics with her daughter.
The venue was Argos Gymsport.
Ann says she looped around and around Koromiko St and Birch Ave for 15 minutes, finding no parking.
She decided to park on a road alongside other cars but a city parking warden warned her they would ticket her car for being on a footpath. She found a spot further away and hoofed it back to the gym.
No doubt folks who parked their cars before her found tickets on their windscreens. I hope they enjoyed the gymnastics, because they'll be paying for it.
So we invite 11,500 athletes and their supporters to town for a week-long competition where they spend up large on accommodation, food, maybe shopping, then hit them with parking fines?
Is this how we welcome visitors?
I know we must park in safe areas; businesses need carparks for customers and staff - I don't want to trample anyone's trade. But leaving a vehicle on public property, even parking on a footpath in an industrial zone when no carparks exist seems to me like a victimless crime.
Is the estimated $3 million tourism officials say we'll gain as a region from AIMS Games not enough? Does the council need to boost its coffers by siphoning money from unsuspecting parents? If ever there were a time for parking amnesty, it was this week.
Alternative transport such as bussing and bicycles are important if we're ever to make a dent in our traffic problem.
But these solutions often aren't practical when you're ferrying a team of athletes to a particular place at a particular time.
Then again, the Tauranga City Council has in my view done a spectacular job of worsening parking woes. They must employ at least one full-time staffer whose only job is painting those dashed yellow no-parking lines.
Visit many side streets in suburbia and you'll find bright new splashes of yellow where you used to be able to station your sedan.
I wonder if all it takes is one disgruntled homeowner to call the council complaining someone had the audacity to park in front of their abode, and, suddenly, the painter's on their way.
Then there's the new Place-of-the-Circling-Skateboards, aka the old Phoenix carpark. Just like that, 55 spaces in Downtown the Mount vanished, replaced with concrete and skate ramps, I mean, benches.
The council said it created 53 new carparking spots in surrounding areas, which I imagine will remain until someone complains and the dashed yellow line painter reappears to remove them.
Experts at a council workshop this week, reported in the Bay of Plenty Times on September 11, presented pros and cons of free parking in Tauranga's main shopping areas. From what we've reported, it's not looking promising for anyone who wants to shop without feeding a meter.
Consultants told elected members offering free parking was not necessarily the best solution to alleviating the city's perceived parking woes. Of 1718 people surveyed, just 14 per cent said the CBD most needed more, free or cheaper parking.
I can almost hear managers at Bayfair, Papamoa Plaza and Tauranga Crossing malls saying, "Keep the parking debacle alive in the CBD - we have free parking. More business for us …"
And just when you thought it was safe to use the carpark of a local friendly business to get some exercise before buying goods from there, it's not. In this particular company's carpark, you can't even park any more without fear of being ticketed. Sure, the sign says three hours' free parking.
So why did my car get ticketed by a private enforcement company six minutes after opening time?
I met two friends for a run one morning; when I returned to my vehicle at 8:30 am, there was the ticket from a private parking company. These operators stake out private carparks and swoop in to issue tickets. While it sounds official, Consumer NZ says government relies on voluntary codes of conduct rather than regulation of the industry.
"As a result, there are no specific rules governing private carparks' charges or their terms and conditions."
Consumer NZ says carpark operators have no legal authority to impose fines. "They may be able to claim damages for breaches of their terms and conditions. However, the amount of any claim is limited to the 'reasonable' expenses they've incurred."
This means I can offer this enforcement company $4 to settle the ticket. Or, do as some people on Reddit suggested and ignore the ticket altogether.
I wonder if businesses like the one I was to buy goods from get a cut from these tickets? And do they care if these operators steer customers to the competition, who may not use such strongarm tactics?
Consumer NZ suggests anyone who's been caught out by a parking operator writes them offering to pay what you think is reasonable.
There's no guarantee they'll stop pursuing you. After calling the company and only getting an automated response, I've mailed my fake parking ticket and store receipt to the address provided explaining I was, in fact, a customer and their fee was ridiculous.
Life's expensive and everyone's looking for extra dosh. Too bad the council risks penalising visitors during a major sporting event, while businesses fleece customers by allowing questionable operators to issue outrageous fines.
Maybe I'll stay home and spend money online. I'm pretty sure my car is safe and legal inside the garage.
Jefferies and family will enjoy a leg of lamb with summer sides.