CALGARY—A city committee opened the door for Calgary residents living on a cul-de-sac to seek permission to legally park their vehicles at an angle.

Bureaucrats were asked last year to develop a process allowing residents to park nose-first on cul-de-sacs in front of their homes following an overnight ticketing blitz in the southwest community of Woodbine.

At Thursday’s transportation and transit committee, administration pitched a solution: install angle parking spaces in cul-de-sacs of any configuration for a fee if supported by a majority of residents and if emergency vehicles and garbage trucks still had enough space.

“What we’re trying to do here is give people the legitimacy of what they’re already doing of angle parking, but just giving the option to make it absolutely legal,” said Councillor Shane Keating, chair of the committee.

In 2016, the city’s parking authority slapped $40 fines on 25 vehicles illegally parked nose-first on a Woodbine cul-de-sac — prompting council to demand a solution.

A review of 16 North American cities found most prohibit angle parking on cul-de-sacs, though Edmonton established guidelines in 2012 to permit residents to do so when the radius was sufficient to allow vehicles to turn around.

Less than one per cent of the 2,500 cul-de-sacs in Calgary are large enough to allow angle parking, according to the city. Garbage and fire trucks require a minimum 15-metre turning radius to get around. The average cul-de-sac in Calgary has 12 to 13 metres.

Under provincial law, vehicles can only be parked parallel to the curb, although municipalities can post a sign allowing residents to angle park.

For decades, Calgarians living on a cul-de-sac have been illegally parking nose-first to give their neighbours enough space to park in front of their houses.

Parking officials, who only enforce the rule after a complaint is lodged, issued just 72 tickets last year.

“There were cases before where people just did not have a clue that it was illegal,” said Keating.

“I’m hoping those interested in angle parking will come forward, have it assessed and find out really if they can, or they cannot, do it,” he said.

Administration’s proposal would permit angle parking provided 80 per cent of cul-de-sac residents support the change and cover the estimated $2,370 fee.

The committee also approved a six-month pilot project allowing the Calgary Parking Authority to issue warnings for first-time infractions.

Councillor Jyoti Gondek questioned the need to change the rules and quizzed administration on whether residents are “clamouring” for angle parking.

“It’s not, to our recollection, a very big deal out there, but it is a common practice,” responded Andrew Bissett, leader of strategic planning for the city’s roads department.

Gondek, who voted against the recommendation, told reporters that Calgary should consider lobbying the provincial government to change the law, rather than create more work for city administration.

“When I know how much work that council has in front of them and, even more than that, how much work administration has to do within transportation and transit, having requests come in to see if we can accommodate angle parking in a cul-de-sac seems like a giant waste of time,” she said.

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The rookie councillor encouraged residents to try to resolve issues before complaining to authorities.

“We are living in a world where we’re not talking to our neighbours,” Gondek said. “I guarantee if we would talk to each other a bit more, we wouldn’t have half the problems we do.”

The item will go before council as a whole for final approval at an upcoming meeting.

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