After years of tightly controlling overnight street parking, London city hall is letting its hair down a bit.

A new proposal would let residents park on the street from Labour Day to Victoria Day, in addition to the summer, but with a big catch. You could only do it 15 times. And, you’d need a permit.

The door to year-round overnight parking is finally opening — but just a crack — in a report headed to a city council committee that recommends a new occasional pass system between September and May.

The passes would free and and could be obtained online, but motorists would only be allowed a maximum of 15 of them between Labour Day and Victoria Day.

Except during the summer months, no parking is allowed on most city streets between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.,

partly so city road crews doing overnight snow and street cleaning have plenty of elbow room.

Last fall, as an experiment, the city extended overnight parking from Labour Day to Nov. 1.

A staff report in January said the extension to Nov. 1 triggered some complaints about too many parked cars on the streets and cost the city about $220,000 in revenue it normally gets from issuing tickets.

Other alternatives for overnight parking pitched to council ranged from the status quo, to selling motorists a year-round overnight parking permit.

The occasional passes, after years of debate, are a compromise, said Shane McGuire, a manager of the city’s environmental and engineering services division.

Since 2001, 12 staff reports on overnight parking have been prepared by the city.

McGuire said the occasional permits would give drivers an option without clogging the streets with parked vehicles year-round.

“If you have a guest over, or if you are having a party and don’t have enough room in the driveway, now you have an alternative,” he said Thursday.

He said the passes would be issued in advance or the same day they’re needed.

McGuire said the city wouldn’t sell the overnight passes if a snow storm is forecast, or if the streets need to cleared for other reasons.

The passes could only be used in areas where day parking is normally allowed.

Because the vehicle information would be relayed directly to the hand-held terminals carried by parking enforcement officers, drivers wouldn’t need to display a printed pass on their windshield or dashboard, either, McGuire said.

The report heads to council’s civic works committee next week and then to full council.

If the politicians approve the recommendation, the new passes would be issued after Labour Day, McGuire said.

hdaniszewski@postmedia.com

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Parking Bylaw Amendments

Overnight Parking Pass