Photo radar slowing business at St. Boniface café, owner says

When Shea Ritchie asked a photo-radar operator parked in a prime spot in front of his restaurant on a busy Saturday night to move, he got a surprising answer.

Not only did the operator refuse to move the vehicle, Ritchie says he was told “You have a nice car — you could afford to lose a few customers.”

“It was shocking to me,” said Ritchie, who has run Chaise Cafe & Lounge at 271 Provencher Blvd. in St. Boniface since April 2013.

“I was very polite with him and expected him to thank me for not yelling at him and being a jerk like everybody else does,” said the restaurateur. His video of the photo-radar operator entitled “stop using my tax money to make it harder 4 me to run a business” had more than 11,000 hits on Ritchie’s personal Facebook page by Monday.

On weekends, photo-radar vehicles regularly stake out that stretch of Provencher, said Ritchie. At busy times, other photo-radar operators parked in front of his café have obliged and moved to the other side of the street — in front of Provencher Park, he said. On Saturday night, however, the photo-radar operator refused to budge.

“His tone was very smug,” said Ritchie, who explained his restaurant has a wheelchair ramp but no parking and that it would be easier for the photo-radar operator to move his vehicle across the street than for a customer with mobility issues to park across the street and make their way to Chaise Cafe.

The man on the lookout for speeders stayed put.

“I understand they’re out to get speeders but it wasn’t unreasonable to ask them to park on the other side of the street,” said Ritchie. Winter is a tough time for the restaurant, and he relies on busy weekends to make a go of it, he said. The loss of parking spots means the loss of revenue-generating customers, he said.

Ritchie said he contacted St. Boniface ward Coun. Matt Allard to complain. He said Allard told him he would look into it. The city referred inquiries about photo-radar operations to the police service. Ritchie garnered little sympathy from the police.

The parking spot in question is a public parking space, open to anyone parking there, a police spokeswoman said in an email.

“Photo-radar operators are contracted by the City of Winnipeg and are exempt under the parking bylaw just as any City of Winnipeg Police vehicle would be,” she said. When asked if there were any guidelines for where photo radar operators ought to park, like choosing spots in front of busy establishments or moving across the street, she did not respond.

Allard said he’s waiting for a response to Ritchie’s complaint about the photo-radar operator’s alleged comment that Ritchie could afford to lose a few customers.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable for staff or operators to speak that way,” said Allard. He’s looking into whether there are guidelines for photo radar operators taking prime parking spots in front of busy establishments.

“If there’s a way of reviewing the rules around enforcement in a way that makes more sense, I’m willing to advocate for that,” Allard said.

Ritchie said he wants the photo-radar operators to move along.

“They will maliciously hurt my business needlessly,” said Ritchie. “I don’t want them on the block.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca