The City of Guelph is making it easier for drivers to dispute parking tickets.
Starting in 2025, Guelph drivers will no longer have to contest parking tickets in court.
On May 28, the city council met and agreed to implement an administrative penalty system. Instead of going to court to fight a ticket, drivers can meet with inspectors hired by the city.
Jennifer Charles, the city's general manager of legal and court services, said the dispute would be resolved within weeks or months.
“The current provincial court system is not efficient in processing these minor offences and we anticipate that the administrative penalty system will be much faster,” Charles said.
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Minor parking violations often take a year or more to be adjudicated in provincial court, she said.
The system would have parking ticket disputes handled by inspectors hired by the city, while other disputes would be handled by third-party hearing officers appointed by the City Council.
Charles said what the City Council recommended and approved was to first establish a penalty system just for parking violations.
It will be a phased approach, she said.
While it will only deal with parking violations for now, Charles said it could be expanded to cover other driving-related offenses such as speeding in the future.
She said the penalty system would divert minor offences away from the courts and expedite drivers' trials to their satisfaction.
The APS will be implemented in the first quarter of 2025.
“The system will be governed by statute; it will be governed by policy and procedure. It is designed to be as fair and transparent as the provincial court system, but more efficient,” she said.
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