Fines spark review of city parks for residents

A resident of mid-city Hamilton has been fined thousands of dollars for parking outside her apartment - even though the council is obliged to provide designated on-street parking for residents.

The Hamilton City Council has had a provision in its traffic bylaw since 2007 saying it would provide resident-only parking areas, the strategy and policy committee heard this week, during a hearing for a traffic bylaw 2012 yesterday.

But when Kimberley Jones' mother Mary inquired on her daughter's behalf about parking for central-city residents she was told the council made no provision for them.

Miss Jones, 24, has been living in an apartment in the former Pascoes building in Garden Place for 18 months and last year racked up thousands of dollars of fines by parking near her apartment on Caro St and Alexandra St, which are metered during the day.

Mrs Jones contacted the council last year to sort out her daughter's parking fines, including seeking an extension to pay them and also asked for advice on alternative parking options since last year.

"It's only this year I've found out about the parking permits. They [council] don't offer them, but it's been in their traffic bylaw since 2007."

She also discovered that part of the resource consent conditions for the building where the Jones' live had been that parking must be provided for the residents.

"If you don't have an allocated parking space it's a bit of an exercise juggling it around ... It's very stressful."

A council spokeswoman confirmed the council had agreed to provide Mary and her daughter with two temporary car parking spaces nearby at no cost while the submission was before the council and any issues with the resource consent were determined.

The council's strategy and policy committee will deliberate and make a decision on the traffic management bylaw including provisions on residential parking in August.