Town of Clarenville releases 2019 first quarter ticketing and fire call stats

A file photo of vehicles in a fire lane from earlier in 2019. - Jonathan Parsons

CLARENVILLE, N.L. — After much discussion surrounding the sheer number of drivers who park in fire lanes in Clarenville, the issue does not seem to be subsiding according to recently released 2019 first-quarter ticketing statistics.

After 65 tickets were issued last year for cars parked in the fire lane (not including the number of drivers asked to move their vehicle while sitting in the fire lane), the first quarter of 2019 saw 25 tickets issued for the same offence.

However, this rate of ticketing is declining overall over the past several years, since the municipal enforcement officer began issuing tickets for these types of offences.

At their meeting Tuesday, April 2, councillors indicated they are making progress, but noted more than 50 tickets in a quarter is a lot.

“There’s 25 tickets still being issued for parking in fire lanes,” said an exasperated Coun. Bill Bailey. “It’s amazing.”

“And there’s still hundreds of people sitting in their vehicles,” added Chief Administrative Officer David Harris.

Coun. Paul Tilley also noted, in case residents are unaware, vehicles are not permitted to park on a sidewalk, or on the streets during winter.

A busy quarter for fire department

In addition to the stats for municipal enforcement in 2019, the Clarenville Fire Department also presented numbers on various types of calls for the quarter.

With three structural fires and five car accidents requiring fire department response in just a few months, it was a busy period for the firefighters.

Coun. Lloyd Parrott noted that, in the future, they’ll look to get some past stats from the department to compare the quarterly figures.

The numbers are as follows:

Fire call breakdown, first quarter 2019 (Jan. 1-March 28)

Motor vehicle accidents: Highway 3, In town 2

Smell of propane: 1

Fire alarms/smell of smoke: 2

Recreation vehicle fires: 1

Structural fires: 3

Chimney fires: 1

Carbon monoxide alarms: 1

Trash fire (at high school): 1

Total: 15 calls

Municipal enforcement status report, first quarter 2019 (Jan. 4-March 24)

Type of ticket

Fire lane parking: 25

Winter parking ban: 25

Parking on sidewalk: 2

Total: 52 tickets

In addition, 13 official warnings were issued. Four were for “voided handicap tickets (has a permit that’s not displayed)” and nine for “disabled handicap parking warning (permit on visor not displayed).”

Also included are statistics for various property issues.

These include 14 property-related issue complaints, 6 curbside garbage issues (not covered properly), 2 bulk waste collection issues (not bundled properly) and 11 snowplow complaints.

LAST YEAR’S NUMBERS

Clarenville’s municipal enforcement 2018 status report

Listing of tickets issued from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2018

Type of ticket

Parked between no parking signs: 4

Impeding snow clearing: 3

Blue zone parking: 2

Parking on sidewalks: 8

Winter parking ban: 1

Parking in fire lanes: 65

Total: 83

In addition, four official warnings were issued for “Handicap parking tickets voided (blue card not placed in windshield).”