‘It’s the Wild West’ : Councillor wants HRM staff to study parking boots

A municipal councillor plans to put forth a motion Tuesday to ask staff to study the potential regulation of vehicle immobilization in Halifax, often known as booting.

In August, Middle/Upper Sackville – Beaver Bank – Lucasville's Lisa Blackburn and her husband went to a downtown restaurant to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

The pair paid to park their car in a private lot.

When dinner went a little later than they planned, she expected to find a parking ticket on her windshield. Instead, she returned to find her wheel had been clamped.

“After I tweeted out a picture of the vehicle … I got a flood of emails and phone calls from residents expressing concerns about how that device is used throughout HRM,” Blackburn told NEWS 95.7's The Rick Howe Show.

The boot removal came with a $115 fine and a violation notification under her windshield wiper with a toll-free number printed on it.

After calling the number, the woman on the other end wasn't able to answer basic questions, including how Blackburn could pay.

The councillor said the man who showed up to remove the clamp and collect the fine didn't carry any identification.

Because her vehicle was in a private lot, the municipality isn't involved, but she now wants to take a closer look at what is and isn't allowed when it comes to private parking enforcement.

“It's the Wild West,” she explained. “There are no rules and regulations surrounding how it can be used, when it can be used, the cost of having it removed.”

She's also worried about the safety of those who have to hang around a dark parking lot, waiting for a person in an unmarked car with no identification to release the vehicle and collect a payment.

“If booting is something we're going to do as parking enforcement, and we're going to allow it as parking enforcement, let's make sure everybody is kept safe, both their information and their person,” Blackburn said.