The City of Waterloo has implemented a new way to fight parking tickets.
Anyone who receives a ticket that they want to fight will now bring it into staff at the Waterloo City Centre, rather than taking it to court.
The new system is called Administrative Monetary Penalty. It’s an alternative dispute resolution that will be run in-house.
City staff will sit down with the ticket holder and discuss next steps. Staff will offer a resolution or the ticket holder can move forward with a hearings officer.
According to the City of Waterloo, many other municipalities in the province have transitioned to this system and it’s been a success.
Although this process won’t increase your chances of fighting a ticket, the wait time is expected to be significantly shorter.
“It’s not that is makes it easier or harder to fight a ticket. It’s about having a conversation in a more relaxed environment as opposed to the formal court system,” explains Shayne Turner, director of enforcement services for the city.
This only applies to parking tickets, but the city says overtime other bylaw violations may be included.
The new procedure will come into effect on June 3.
The City of Kitchener will be deciding on Monday whether to adopt the same system as Waterloo or to continue with the traditional court system that is currently in place.
