Several downtown businesses are hoping the Town of Osoyoos will re-examine its parking policies so people needing more than two hours to receive a service, shop or eat are accommodated.
Right now, there is a two hour limit for parking along Main Street and people who defy that limit face the possibility of a $25 ticket.
At its May 4 meeting, Osoyoos town council received a letter from Doreen Janko of Osoyoos describing a situation where she and other customers of Luna del Sol Hair Design saw a Town bylaw officer place a warning ticket on a customer’s car outside the salon.
Janko said in the letter that concern was expressed that enforcement of the bylaw could hurt business for salons and other merchants in the downtown core.
“One could easily spend more than two hours, at a beauty salon, a bank or lawyer’s office,” the letter read.
Helen Ritchie, co-owner of the salon, told the Osoyoos Times she was concerned about her customers who receive “chemical services” such as perms or colour treatments.
“It will surely exceed two hours,” she said, adding that other salons in town face the same problem.
Laura Ryan, owner of the Into You Hair and Body Lounge, said 80 per cent of her customers spend more than two hours at her business.
A manager at the Wildfire Grill who asked not to have his name printed also said strict enforcement of the bylaw could hurt his lunch-hour business as customers sometimes stay longer than two hours to eat.
Ritchie and Ryan suggested that a system could be set up where tokens or special tickets could be given out to salon customers to place on their vehicles.
The tokens would indicate to a bylaw officer that the vehicle belongs to someone receiving a service at a salon and a longer parking time is needed.
In her letter, Janko asked the Town why the parking bylaw is “suddenly being enforced” and encouraged council to consider the effect the bylaw is having on downtown businesses.
“I would hope Council will find it prudent to leave the by-law on the books, but enforce it less stringently,” she said in the letter.
Council responded to Janko’s letter by asking Town staff to look at the “adequacy” of downtown parking.
Coun. Ted Cronmiller said, however, that people often forget they can park on side streets and walk to the downtown core and Coun. Michael Ryan suggested that people consider using the public parking lots at the corner of 78th Avenue and 85th Street, behind Home Hardware and behind Shoppers Drug Mart.
It was also mentioned that a new public lot would soon be opening at the corner of 87th Street and 74th Avenue.
Side streets and the public lots, however, also have two hour time limits.
Coun. C.J. Rhodes said Osoyoos residents should receive some leniency when it comes to parking but added that he recognized the difficulty in such a concept.
“How do you tell who is a resident and who is a tourist?”
Mayor Stu Wells told the Osoyoos Times that council will be looking at all options including extending hours for parking, the token system or different levels of enforcement.
Although, he said, “it doesn’t make sense to have relaxed enforcement.”
If you are looking to park on a side street, you won’t be able to on 74th Avenue between 89th Street and Hwy. 97.
Council voted against allowing parking on either side of the street there.
Some property owners on 74th Avenue expressed concern to council about not having any parking for visitors or for the customers of one business located on the street.
A report prepared for council said parking on that stretch of road could be a safety issue because the bend and incline of the road could hinder sightlines and vehicles turning off Hwy. 97 may be travelling too fast to avoid parked vehicles.
It was suggested that parking be allowed on the south side of the street, but in the end it was determined there would not be enough parking spaces on that side of the roadway.

By Paul Everest
Osoyoos Times