Moncton wants judge to halt unlicensed booting

The City of Moncton wants a judge to order unlicensed booters to stop overcharging andcomply with a municipal bylaw regulating the practice.

The city filed an application Thursday morning naming PSI Parking Solutions and the company's former partners,Dale Dixon and Greg Kennedy. It alleges they continued to boot vehicles in contravention of a city bylaw passed last year after years of complaints about the practice.

Booting involves installing an immobilization device around the wheel of avehicle improperly parked in a private lotto prevent it from being driven away.

The bylaw capped the fee to remove the boot at $45 and requiredany company booting to be licensed by the city.

No company is licensed and booting continued, withpeople saying they were charged $180 or more.

NickRobichaud, Moncton's general manager of legal and legislative services, saidlast week the city was gathering evidence to take to court. Robichaud said the city only had reports about Parking Solutions booting people.

The application says the city has "legitimate reasonable concerns and apprehensions" that Parking Solutions won't stop booting and charging fees above the $45 limit. It states the city received 32 reports from people booted between Sept. 4 and Jan. 16 who were forced to pay more than the bylaw's limit.

Robichaud encouraged anyone booted to tell the company it doesn't have authority to do so and to remove the boot. If the company refuses, he suggested calling police.

No court date has been set for the application to be heard by a judge.

Parking Solutions

Parking Solutions was a partnership formed in 2008 by Greg Kennedy and Dale Dixon. In 2016, Parking Solutions told CBC it monitored 14 private lots in the city and pledged to fight any bylaw limiting booting.

Corporate records indicate the partnership was dissolved by Kennedy on Oct. 24, 2018.

Kennedy declined an interview on Wednesday, saying he had no involvement with the business after the partnership ended.

Calls and an email to Parking Solutions were not returned Thursday.

14 affidavits

Krissy Coleman's vehicle was towed from a private Robinson Street parking lot and then booted on Sept. 21 last year. She paidmore than $300 to get her vehicle back.

"I felt like I was robbed of my money," Coleman said Thursday.

Coleman is among14 people who filed swornaffidavitsoutlining their experience, which the city is using in support of its application.

"I think it is the best step possible, and I think the more people that come forward, the stronger the city will be able to stand up and fight for the citizens affected by this," she said.

Several of those who filed affidavits said they were booted after the partnership was dissolved in October.

In one affidavit, a woman states she parked along Downing Street in what she thought was a public space for five minutes while visiting the nearby library with her young children. During that time, her car was booted.

"I'm a single mother," the affidavit states. "I live alone with my 2 sons on a very tight budget. The $180 I gave to the attendant on November 30, 2018, for the 5 minutes I was parked near the Moncton Library, was my grocery money."

Marc Cormier says in an affidavit that he parked his car in a lot used by federal employees off Highfield Street at 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 last year to skate with his wife and children on the outdoor rink beside the Avenir Centre.

Since government offices were closed and the lot was empty, he didn't think it would be a problem to park there for about an hour.He was booted and told to pay "$224.25 in ransom to remove" the device, his affidavit says.

Forced to pay cash, despite bylaw

When Cormier asked about the city's bylaw capping the removal fee, an employee of Parking Solutions who provided an ID badge showing the name"D. Dickson" told him he was wrong and had no choice but to pay the fee.

The city's application suggests "D. Dickson" is Dale Dixon. Cormier took a photo of the licence plate on the vehicle driven by Dickson. Codiac RCMP told city staff the plate is registered to Dale Emery Dixon.

Cormier had to pay in cash.The city's bylaw requires those booting to take payment by cash, debit or credit.