Calgary flood victim racks up on-street parking fines

A Calgary flood victim has racked up thousands of dollars in parking fines after being issued a special parking pass by the city.

The parkade at Ashleigh Haroldson's condominium was damaged by the flood.

"Then I did actually buy parking at an apartment where my friend was living, but it's adding up quite fast and when I got this parking pass I thought I was good to park on the street," said Haroldson.

Haroldson's vehicle was towed twice and she was issued about half a dozen parking tickets.

She says she was unaware of the fines because the tickets were mailed to an address which she was not checking.

Haroldson says the Calgary Parking Authority initially told her she would have to fight the tickets in court, but after being contacted by CBC, the CPA has cancelled the fines.

Spokesman Miles Dyck says there may be some confusion about the restrictions placed on the passes.

"If there's been a misunderstanding as to where the permits can be used and where they can't be used, we'll obviously look at that closely and we can look at cancelling those tags."

1,500 parking passes issued

The special parking permits allow people to park in residential permit areas or timed zones as long as they are not paid parking zones.

"The specific zones are marked out on the streets signed appropriately. So we don't have a map per se of the exact parking zones themselves," said Miles Dyck.

There is an online appeal process with the CPA if people feel they have been unfairly ticketed, or the tickets can be challenged in court added Dyck.

 The Calgary Parking Authority has issued about 1,500 special parking passes for people affected by the flood.

The CPA will assess the need for the passes at the end of August.