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CCDA to tackle loitering, parking downtown

May 24, 2018 | 5:15 PM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The City Centre Development Agency is taking action on two problems which have plagued the downtown for years.

Businesses are tired of people loitering and of hearing their customers complain about never being able to find a parking spot.

The CCDA is working closely with the police service to see what can be done.

“There is two-hour parking downtown and we do ticket heavily downtown and different areas of the city, but there’s a key focus on the downtown core,” said Inspector Brent Secondiak.

“It’s busy downtown because people want to be here and it’s busy in every city and every downtown and I think that’s just part of it,” said Hillary Hutton, owner of Friday’s Image.

Hutton, like other business owners, has seen people wipe chalk marks off tires left by bylaw officers, allowing them to stay longer than the permitted two hours.

She said it’s not always customers taking advantage of the loop hole.

“I think there is a small number of businesses that are maybe abusing the street parking,” she said.

“To rub chalk off a tire, it’s actually an offence. It’s there for a reason,” said Secondiak. “Downtown is for everyone’s enjoyment and if you feel the need to park in one spot for more than two hours, you should be ticketed.”

Jeremy Silver, chair of the CCDA said the message to businesses is simple.

“Every spot you take up downtown is a spot that isn’t used for customers,” he said.

Parking isn’t the only issue the CCDA has heard about.

“From our perspective, what we get complaints about at the CCDA, is large groups of people standing in front of a specific business for long periods of time,” Silver said.

“Loitering downtown isn’t illegal,” said Secondiak. “People are free to go where they choose so that’s a touchy subject, especially in the downtown core.”

The city’s downtown was outlined in the latest safety survey published by the police and showed it’s an area which is avoided because of the fear of crime.

“I don’t think the crime there is higher than anywhere else in the city, but perception of crime is a huge issue,” Secondiak added.

“Unfortunately large groups of people whether they, no matter who they are, sometimes are intimidating, and again, that’s that perception of fear and things that something bad could happen,” Silver said.

Secondiak said the service will have more of a presence downtown in the coming weeks, while the CCDA hopes they can go one step further.

“We want to put together some sort of proposal to hand to city council to change bylaws downtown to accommodate pedestrians more and people walking around,” Silver said.

He hopes that will help with the perception of crime and make everyone feel a little bit safer.