pne713's video: PNE 2010 PARKING NIGHTMARE

http://www.pne.ca/thefair/index.html Prize fight on Lions game night will be for parking spots BY EMILY JACKSON, VANCOUVER SUN AUGUST 27, 2010 Football fans and fairgoers are in for a Friday-night fight for prized PNE parking spots. With the B.C. Lions kicking off at the PNE's Empire Field at 7:30 p.m., snagging one of the 3,600 parking spots on the fair grounds, for the price of $25, will be a competitive task. "We haven't had a football game here [during the fair] in a couple of decades," said PNE spokeswoman Laura Ballance. "We're hopeful that we'll be able to accommodate the vast majority of the people." But drivers arriving too late to capture a coveted space should be careful where they park -the city is cracking down on residents who illegally park cars for a fee, said Tom Hammel, deputy chief licence inspector for the city. If a car is parked in a residents-only area, the car could be ticketed and towed, even if the driver paid the resident to park there, Hammel said. "We have a couple of property-use inspectors that are out enforcing the off street parking," he added. Drivers aren't the only ones who should take notice of the heightened bylaw enforcement. If residents allow too many cars to park on their property, they can be fined a minimum of $250, Hammel said. The maximum fine varies and is decided by courts, he said. A 33-foot lot can have up to three cars parked in it, according to the city parking bylaw. He would not say how many fines have been issued this year. Hammel said the city has received 15 complaints from people in the neighbourhood who are angry about the circling traffic. "People flagging cars down and stopping in the middle of the street create safety problems," Hammel said. "Try to arrange alternate forms of transportation." Stacy Broadoway, a resident on East Pender Street, had at least seven nearby residents standing in front of her home trying to solicit drivers to park at their property as they turned off Renfrew Street on Thursday afternoon. She has written letters to the city to express her concerns about the risk to safety of people soliciting cars from the busy street corner. "It's only a matter of time before a major accident happens," she said. She has noticed an increase in towing and ticketing in the area this year, she said. Broadoway said she does not sell her extra parking spots. "The one time I did, I got fined $300," she said. Her teenage son had been selling the spots for spare cash, but got nabbed by bylaw officers when he allowed a fourth car to park on the lot, she said. She expects this weekend to be chaotic. "I probably won't be able to get out of my own driveway." If people must drive, the city encourages them to park at the PNE or at one of the designated lots, Hammel said. About 400 parking spaces were lost to food concessions built around Empire Field, the Lions' temporary home for the 2010 season. However, 600 overflow parking spots are available at Dr. A.R. Lord elementary and Hastings Community elementary. Approximately 500 additional spots can be found at the Hastings Community Centre's lots, said community centre board member Georgina Nicholson. At $20 a space, parking during the fair is a huge money maker for the centre, she said. The centre uses the revenue to fund the family drop-in and youth programs it runs throughout the year. Despite the money the centre earns from parking, Nicholson encouraged people to take buses to reduce the traffic in the community. In preparation for the hoards of people, TransLink will continue its special PNE shuttle service every 15 minutes and will run extra buses starting three hours before the football game, said spokesman Ken Hardie. "We made sure the routes are being served by the bigger buses," he said. Buses were packed last weekend because of the free admission, concerts and great weather, he added. Football tickets also give access to the PNE, so not everyone will flock to the buses immediately after the game, he said. "That will tend to space things out a little bit." © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun