If you leave your vehicle parked on a town street during a snowstorm this winter, there’s a good chance it will be towed away after council approved on Monday an amendment to the town’s current traffic bylaw.

Jim Dinwoodie, the town’s director of operational services, said the existing bylaw enacted in 2009 does not have any provisions for allowing the town’s operational services department to remove vehicles parked on streets or public places that are impeding the removal of snow and ice from roadways.

The proposed amendment to the bylaw would correct this situation and allow operational services the opportunity to more efficiently and effectively remove snow and ice from the roads, creating safer driving conditions for the general public, said Dinwoodie.

Because there aren’t a lot of major snowstorms in Osoyoos, it’s rare that situations have developed in the past where vehicles are parked along a roadway in such a manner that the distance between the vehicles would not allow for the passage of snow removal equipment, he said.

The blade on the existing plow truck is a 10-foot fixed angle blade. Therefore, operators require  a minimum 12 foot clearance path between obstacles to allow for snow and ice discharge when plowing, he said.

If operators experience a situation where parked vehicles are impeding snow removal operations, it has long been policy to always attempt to contact the vehicle owner and request they voluntarily remove their vehicle, said Dinwoodie.

If this is not possible, then operational services personnel would like to be able to tow the vehicles so that snow and ice removal can continue in the most timely and effective manner possible, he said.

Towing away vehicles that are impeding snow removal services would provide safer road conditions for the public, he said.

Operational services would also be able to more effectively control snow and ice on local roadways by not having to return to areas already plowed to clear sections of road blocked by vehicles, he said.

If operational services personnel are not required to make multiple trips to areas to clean snow and ice, they would be able to more effectively maintain the roads within the allotted town budget, he said.

With winter coming soon, his department is hopeful the amendments to the current bylaw could be in place early in the new year, said Dinwoodie.

“By reducing the number of return visits to deal with snow and ice issues, operational services could potentially expend less resources to maintain safe driving conditions throughout the town,” he said.

Once the bylaw is adopted, Dinwoodie said the plan is to use local towing contractors to remove vehicles that are impeding snow removal efforts.

They would bring the vehicles to a secured location and vehicle owners would be responsible for attending that location and paying the towing fees before having their vehicles returned to them, he said.

Coun. Mike Campol said it’s obvious to him that the town should adopt a policy allowing operational services staff to tow away vehicles that are impeding snow removal services, however, he believed every effort should be made to contact vehicle owners as quickly as possible to allow them to act quickly and move their vehicles.

The town has been effective in reducing the incidents of impaired driving and the reality is many of the vehicles left overnight are there because the owners didn’t want to drink and drive, said Campol.

Dinwoodie said town staff would keep a log to detail when vehicle owners were contacted after a snow event takes place.

In Osoyoos, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is responsible for clearing snow on Main Street as it’s part of Hwy. 3, which is a provincial highway, said Dinwoodie.

Senior management with that ministry have been informed about the proposed amendments to the traffic bylaw and are fully supportive, he said.

Coun. C. J. Rhodes said he’s in favour of the proposed amendments allowing for vehicles to be towed away, but wondered if Dinwoodie and his department might consider using “snow zones” that are used in other municipalities to bring vehicles to pre-determined areas during snow events.

Instead of towing the vehicles to secured lots used by towing companies, local residents could access the snow zones to pick up their vehicles without paying exorbitant fees, said Rhodes.

Dinwoodie said that could be done if that’s what council would prefer.

Council voted unanimously to adopt the traffic bylaw, effective immediately.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times