PERTH - Perth
drivers should get ready to be dinged for idling their vehicles, as the town
plans to enact an anti-idling bylaw next summer.
While the bylaw will not apply to vehicles
stopped in traffic or at railways crossings, it will be enforced for vehicles
in parking spaces, parking lots and driveways. Drivers caught idling will be
slapped with an $8 fine starting June 30, 2011.
Town councillors approved the bylaw during a
committee-of-the-whole meeting on Aug. 10, but it must still receive council’s final
stamp of approval on Aug. 31.
In the bylaw, idling is defined as the
operation of the engine while the vehicle is not in motion; however, no time
limit is given for how long a vehicle should be idling before a ticket is
issued. Vehicles that are being used to operate auxiliary equipment are exempt,
as are boats, emergency vehicles in use or training, armoured vehicles,
vehicles in parades, and a few other reasons.
The move comes at the request of the Canadian
Federation of University Women (CFUW) of Perth
and District. EcoPerth initiated a push for an anti-idling bylaw about 10 years
ago and the CFUW lobbied council for a bylaw in 2006-07, but the idea failed to
gain traction. Members of the group approached town council again this June,
prompting councillors to ask town staff to draft a bylaw for consideration.
Peggy Land, chair of the CFUW’s environment
committee, said the group is “cautiously optimistic” about the bylaw.
“This looks to be a very workable bylaw,” she
said.
Mayor John Fenik said he was in support of the
bylaw, but said idling is a provincial issue and the town should be lobbying
the province to enact anti-idling legislation. He also said that enforcement of
the bylaw is important.
“We need teeth with this,” he said.
Coun. Judy Brown echoed Fenik’s concerns, but
spoke against the bylaw because of enforcement issues she had seen in other
municipalities that have similar bylaws. Brown also expressed concerned about
the lack of an idling time limit written into the bylaw. According to Natural
Resources Canada, the 20 Ontario
municipalities that currently have idling-control bylaws typically set a three-
to five-minute time limit.
Coun. Bill White agreed, saying it would cost
the town too much to hire new staff to enforce the bylaw. Idling is “a fact of
life,” he said, and an education campaign would have a greater impact.
“Adding fines and that frustration – I don’t
think that’s going to work,” White said.
Coun. Ed McPherson agreed that the proposed $75
fine was too high. Brown asked that the bylaw be changed to lower the fine to
$8 instead.
“I don’t support this bylaw as it is currently
written,” McPherson said. “Is it going to be effective or just make people
mad?”
Coun. Beth Peterkin countered their concerns,
saying, “There will always be folks who don’t get caught; it’s the same as
speeding.”
The bylaw is needed, Peterkin said, to show
that Perth is
on the “environmental forefront.”
In the end, the majority of councillors
supported the move.
About $4,000 will be spent on a campaign to
educate the public about the harmful environmental and health effects of
idling. After Peterkin approached EcoPerth, the group agreed to design and
print 2,000 information flyers or bookmarks at its own expense. The CFUW will
also assist with education, with help from Canada World Youth program
participants who are in Perth
for the next three months.
Enforcing the bylaw will cause an estimated 10
per cent increase in “on the street” enforcement costs in 2011. The estimated
cost to enforce the bylaw for the final six months of next year is $3,750.
Signs would be erected to indicate that Perth is an “idle-free”
town.
The Perth Courier