Parking-ticket victory incomplete as city leaves vehicle owner on the hook for cost of aborted tow

A Wolseley resident who had a parking-ticket fine waived over summer street cleaning says the city has refused to reimburse him for the cost of the tow truck.

Leo Kopelow said he parked his car outside of his home on Home Street on the evening of May 20, a Tuesday, while signs on the street had been put up warning parking would not be permitted two days later, on Thursday.

He said he woke up the next morning to see a ticket on his windshield and his vehicle in the process of being towed.

A decal with the word “Wednesday” had been affixed over the “Thursday” on the street sign.

“It feels like one would have had to (wake) up sometime in the middle of the night and go out and look at the sign to see if they had changed it to be able to comply,” Kopelow said Tuesday.

Winnipeg’s parking bylaws require signage to be placed 24 hours in advance. Tickets for parking near no-parking signs carry a penalty of $150, or $112.50 if paid within two weeks.

Kopelow managed to catch the tow truck, and the driver charged him $40 to release his vehicle.

He fought the ticket, and the Winnipeg Parking Authority waived the fine, but denied his request to be reimbursed for the aborted tow.

In an email to Kopelow, the parking authority said the fine removal “reflects recognition of the circumstances caused by the signage changes,” but maintained that the tow was still valid as the car was in violation of the no-parking sign.

Ever since, Kopelow has reached out to different city authorities, to no avail.

He said some of his neighbours had their cars impounded, with fees racked up as high as $350. For him, fighting his relatively small monetary loss is about righting an obvious wrong.

“I do think that letting something so nonsensical stand and not intervening does really colour one’s perception of how effective city governance currently is,” he said.

City communications officer Adam Campbell wouldn’t comment on specific enforcement, but said street cleaning was originally scheduled on Home Street for May 15 (the previous Thursday) before being rescheduled.

He said signage was put up 24 hours in advance on both days.

Towing is a cost the city has to pay to proceed with cleaning, he said.

“Generally speaking, we may, in some cases, reduce a ticket to a warning without voiding or dismissing it,” he said in an email. “ Having the ticket portion reduced to a warning with no penalty does not change the requirement to pay for the tow.”

Public works chair Coun. Janice Lukes said concerns about the timing of no-parking signage have landed on her desk in the past.

“This doesn’t happen frequently, but there is this aspect of human error that can come into play… usually people don’t get tow-happy, and towing doesn’t occur right away” Lukes (Waverley West) said.

She plans to bring the issue up to the Winnipeg Parking Authority.

“The city can always do a better job of communicating,” she said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca