Residential parking rules seem unfair
I read with interest a letter to the editor which questioned the need for residential parking. I checked with the parking department at Victoria city hall about the requirements for obtaining permission for a residential parking sticker.
It seems that all the applicant has to do is simply bring in some identification which shows that they live in an area where residential parking is available and a sticker is issued. No fee is required.
This brings to mind the fairness of such a scheme.
People are denied the right to park in these areas in favour of residents who just happen to live on a particular street.
I live in a condo and I am required to pay fees to park my car.
According to city hall, I am not allowed to park in the residential area on the street outside the building.
It just doesn’t seem fair that these residents are able to get free parking on a street for which my taxes are used to maintain and clean. Something really needs to be done.
Some suggestions: Do away with residential parking restrictions.
Residents pay a special parking levy which will partially offset my taxes which are used to maintain streets. Fees also could be used to offset transit fares. At my condo I pay $25 per month for an outside parking space.
Limit the time the residents are allowed to park their car from late evening to early morning.
Paul Houlston
Victoria
Doctors’ plea for lockdown ignored
A recent letter to Dr. Bonnie Henry from Dr. Gerald Da Roza and endorsed by 200 Metro Vancouver doctors was ignored.
The physicians were asking for community lockdowns to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission.
Dr. Henry was claiming that the current measures are adequate and yet refuses to say which areas have new infections. In your Saturday edition, I see cause for concern.
A picture on page A4 shows children playing in a closed park. A 7-Eleven store in Ladysmith and St. Michaels University School have confirmed cases.
All these situations have one thing in common — youth and children. This demographic is well known to disseminate influenza infections.
The purpose of the health care measures are to protect the vulnerable members of society and I agree with the other doctors that a lock down is essential.
We do not want to follow the Italian disease model.
Dr. David Turner, FRCP
Salt Spring Island
Times Colonist keeps Islanders informed
I would like to thank the Times Colonist staff for producing our daily newspaper. It is a daily window on reality and the world. It and your website are by far the best source for knowledge on the Island scene.
How anyone here can keep informed on local news without it, I don’t know.
I am especially grateful for Jack Knox’s columns, both the humorous and the serious, and delighted with the return of Adrian Raeside to the world of political and social cartoons.
He was sorely missed the past few years.
Tell your staff to keep up the good work. I hope you can continue to publish and print through these times. Also a special thanks for the delivery people — bless you.
John Hutchinson
Victoria
