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Village towing illegal parkers

Keremeos is cracking down on illegally parked vehicles. After a warning the vehicles are being towed.

The word is getting out that Keremeos isn’t the

place to camp and illegally park your vehicle overnight.

“We used to have them camping in Pine Park

all the time,” Kevin Aschoff the Keremeos bylaw

enforcement officer said. “The word is getting

around about what is allowed and what is not

allowed and it’s really helping. It’s got a lot better.”

So far this year five vehicles have been towed

by the village that were illegally parked overnight

in places most often used by people camping down

by the riverbed.

Each vehicle received a warning before being

towed. When writing a warning, the bylaw enforcement

officer records the vehicle model and licence

plate number. If the same vehicle is in violation

again it is then towed at the owner’s expense and

depending on the infraction a ticket of $25 to $100

is issued.

“The vehicle is impounded. The owner has to

come to the village office and pay any fines issued

before we will authorize that the vehicle can be

released,” he said.

All five owners have been very cordial despite

their vehicle being towed.

“For the most part I’ve dealt with people it hasn’t

escalated. People are pretty cordial and they understand

if they get caught breaking well then this is

going to happen,” he said.

Aschoff has removed just one person’s tent from

Pine Park this year opposed to several in previous

years.

Village council set aside an additional $4,000

in the budget for bylaw enforcement for 2015. At

this point Aschoff said none of that money has been

used.

“I haven’t had to work more... So far people have

been pretty good obeying the laws. We haven’t had

to put in too many extra hours,” he said.

The bylaw enforcement department is complaint

driven.

Aschoff said at this time of year the most complaints

he receives is in regards to property maintenance

standards.

“We get a lot of complaints about unsightly properties,

people failing to maintain shrubs and grass

and stuff like that,” he said.