Bruce Jamieson says he鈥檚 been ticketed three times in the last year-and-a-half for violating hard-to-spot no-stopping signs hidden by the summer flower baskets hung by the City of 91原创.
In every case, Jamieson, a Cloverdale resident, was able to convince the City bylaw enforcement department to tear up the 鈥渁nnoying鈥� ticket by taking photos of the obscured signs, filling out a dispute form and going to city hall.
He estimates the appeal process took 鈥渢wo to three hours鈥� each time.
Jamieson suspects some people are simply paying the fines rather than spend that much time fighting them.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 flatter myself that I鈥檓 the only person this has happened to,鈥� he says.
Jamieson says he likes the flower baskets that hang from lamp standards, but thinks they should be trimmed more often to keep them from covering up the signs attached to the same poles.
鈥淚 think they鈥檙e [the flowers] a real asset,鈥� Jamieson says.
鈥淏ut if they鈥檙e going to put them in front of a street sign, they have to maintain them.鈥�
In July, Jamieson was able to find an example two blocks from The Times offices where flowers were covering up a no-stopping sign bolted just above a still-visible three-hour parking time limit warning.
As summer progresses and flowers grow even longer, he has noticed instances where both signs have been obscured.
91原创 City CAO Francis Cheung said the issue will be investigated.
鈥淲e鈥檒l definitely have a look at it,鈥� Cheung told The Times.
Cheung said before crews start trimming the bottom of the flowers off, the effect on the 鈥渆sthetics鈥� would have to be considered and so would the impact on the health of the plants.
One possibility, Cheung suggested, could be substituting warning notices for fines.
Jamieson has his doubts.
He said the reason he came forward is that he was told a year-and-a-half ago by the city bylaw enforcement department following his first ticket that the matter would be looked into, but tickets are still being issued.
鈥淣othing was done,鈥� Jamieson said.
He said the people handing out the tickets can see if a sign is obstructed and when one is, they should call someone at the city to trim the flowers rather than writing a ticket.
The City of 91原创 Highway and Traffic Regulation bylaw 2871 sets a fine of $50 for parking 鈥渃ontrary to traffic sign鈥� but offers a reduction to $25 if paid within seven business days from the time issued.
