Drivers hogging car parks in Alexandra and Cromwell will be liable for parking fines ranging from $20 to $50 under a new bylaw being introduced later this year.
Parking restrictions in the central business district of those two towns form part of the Central Otago District Council draft roading bylaw, which is open for public comment from tomorrow and closes on Friday, February 27.
The 82-page bylaw covers a wide range of topics from stock movement, temporary grazing and alfresco dining through to advertising on roads, traffic management, roadside planting, formation of roads, fencing and dust suppression.
Submissions will be heard by the council in April before the bylaw is due to come into force on July 1.
Council roading manager Julie Muir said the parking and heavy vehicle restrictions in part of Cromwell's Barry Ave were likely to be of most interest to submitters.
Those two items had not been included in the council's roading policy.
Restricted parking zones in Alexandra and Cromwell were introduced in 2007 but the proposed bylaw would allow for the enforcement of those restrictions.
Under the proposed bylaw, town centre parks mostly have time restrictions ranging from 10 minutes through to two hours, depending on the location.
Some are designated all-day parks. Ms Muir said funding had been included in the draft long-term plan for Cromwell and Vincent Community Boards to enforce the new parking restrictions.
The parking fines listed in the bylaw range from $20 for breaching the parking requirements through to $50 for parking in a no-parking area.
Motorists will also be liable for any towing fees if their vehicle has to be removed from the area. It was the first time the council had developed a roading bylaw.
''This bylaw will allow council to regulate the wide variety of activities that take place on roads within the district and achieve this in an efficient manner,'' Ms Muir said.
Concerns by members of the public and police about the number of heavy vehicles using Barry Ave between McNulty Rd and Neplusultra St prompted the introduction of the section relating to heavy vehicle restrictions.
Under the draft bylaw, heavy articulated vehicles with three axles or more would be banned from that location but emergency vehicles, camper vans and buses were exempt.
The Cromwell Community Board considered the matter last month and resolved to support the heavy vehicle restriction.
In a report to the board, Ms Muir said heavy vehicles were using that section of Barry Ave day and night ''which is disturbing residents and providing conflict with other road users''.
Traffic counts taken in August last year revealed there were 6100 vehicles a day on Barry Ave between Waenga Dr and Neplusultra St.
Of those vehicles counted, 164 (2.6%) were heavy vehicles and 198 (3.3%) were classified as medium-sized vehicles.
''This gives a total of 362 (5.9%) medium and heavy commercial vehicles using Barry Avenue on average per day,'' Ms Muir said.
It appeared to be out-of-town transport firms, rather than local firms, that used Barry Ave as a shortcut, Ms Muir said.
