Carbonear councillors fume over disregard for ‘No Parking’ signs

By Mark Squibb/September 30, 2022

Carbonear’s Recreation Complex is a draw for people both near and far. Boasting a swimming pool, walking track, playgrounds, soccer field, concert field, skate park, basketball court, and tennis courts, there’s plenty to do at the Recreation Complex — and, theoretically at least, plenty of places to park.

But members of Carbonear council say despite the ample parking space available, folks still choose to park in ‘No Parking’ zones along the roadway, particularly near Paddy’s Garden and the soccer field, potentially impeding traffic and sometimes earning themselves a ticket in the process.

“I’m aware of several situations where we have given out parking tickets, and rightfully so, in my opinion, in an area that fire trucks may not be able to get by if there are cars parked on both sides of the street in the recreation area,” said councillor Danielle Doyle. “My understanding is that that’s why those ‘No Parking’ signs were put there, because people were parked on both sides and there was a concern that fire trucks couldn’t get through.”

Doyle asked if, in addition to putting up extra ‘No Parking’ signage, council could label the parking lots.

“There is ample parking in there,” said Doyle. “From Paddy’s Garden on up to the Pool Complex to the skateboard park. So, if you raised awareness, and said, ‘Okay, you can’t get a spot right in front of the skateboard park, but there’s all kinds of parking down by the track, there’s all kinds of parking down by Paddy’s Garden, if it’s not during school there could be extra parking at Carbonear Collegiate or Carbonear Academy.’”

She suggested that signs could designate the individual parking lots and that groups renting or using recreational facilities could make their users aware that they must park in a certain lot.

Councillor Malcolm Seymour, chairman of the recreation committee, suggested some people willfully ignore the signage.

“Yes, we have lots of parking,” said Seymour. “The biggest issue is this: people want to get so close as they can, without walking that extra two or three feet. I’m sorry but I’ve got to say this. Because at the end of the day, we have signs there. There was a truck there, and when they got out of the machine, the sign was there and could have hit him in the face. Or her, whoever it was. And this has got to change.”

Seymour said the committee would like to see the signs placed in a slightly more visible manner.

Deputy Mayor Sam Slade asked if it might be possible for recreation staff to let people know that parking along the roadway could impair traffic and is not permitted.

Seymour said the committee is looking at having sports and other groups make announcements as to where people ought to park.

Councillor Chris O’Grady said the signs forbidding parking along the North side of Valley Road have been in place for years.

“I don’t know how much simpler we can make it,” said O’Grady. “The signs are right there on the road.”

Slade reiterated that if sports and other recreation groups made announcements as to where people should park, there might be less need for enforcement.

“There’s nobody wants to be in handing out tickets at a function like that,” said Slade. “And remember, a lot of those people who go into those functions are not from Carbonear. A lot of them could be from Bay Roberts, or Harbour Grace, or wherever the case may be. And the last thing you want to do is go in and place a ticket on somebody’s windshield who is coming here and participating in the town. If we could do something to simplify things, like what councillor Seymour just suggested with these groups, it would be good, in and of itself. And like you said, Councilor O’Grady, the signs are already there. But I tell you, for whatever reason, people don’t tend to read signs very well.”

Seymour said people need to follow the rules regardless of where they’re from.

“When we bring people into this town, they got to understand that we have rules and regulations,” said Seymour. “We don’t want to drive anyone out of the Town of Carbonear. We want everybody to come here. But hopefully, they look for the signs saying, ‘Please Do Not Park.’”

Councillor Peter Snow said that along the Swimming Pool area the parking lots are well arranged, but that down around the soccer field and Paddy’s Garden it becomes a ‘free-for-all.’

“I don’t know if somewhere down the road we could do some organization to maximise the parking and make it a little less chaotic,” said Snow.

Director of Public Works Ian Farrell said there may be an opportunity to address that concern in the recreation master plan.

Town Clerk Cathy Somers added it’s not the responsibility of swimming pool employees to come out and tell people where they can or cannot park.

“However, anybody who books our fields goes through our Recreation Director,” said Somers. “And it’s not uncommon for that person to remind them about the circumstances around parking, and that there are designated parking areas and that there are also no parking areas.”