Last month, Council agreed to launch a one-year pilot testing a change to the administration of by-law compliance for parking violations. This involves a streamlining of administrative penalties by avoiding traditional court proceedings for handling by-law violations through a process called Administrative Monetary Policy (AMP).
Ontario municipalities can implement AMP systems as an alternative to traditional court proceedings for handling by-law violations, such as parking infractions, property standards and other by-laws the have ticketing/fines as an enforcement options. The primary benefits of an AMP system include streamlined dispute resolution, reduced administrative burdens on the provincial court system, improved compliance rates, and a more accessible appeals process for residents. Adopting such a by-law would align the municipality with others in the province that have experienced faster resolution and better resource allocation with this process in other Ontario municipalities. Under the current system, the final step in by-law enforcement is process through the courts.
The report sought to implement the AMP program to by-law infractions for parking and refuse and debris violations, but Council decided to opt for a one year pilot program applied to parking infractions only with fines fixed for the duration of the pilot to determine the program’s effectiveness.
This change only affects the final stages of by-law dispute resolution. Staff will continue to use mediation and education as their first compliance option prior to implementing AMPs fines. Under the AMP system, enforcement measures will be much less time consuming and expensive for both the Township and the person with the parking infraction who will receive a parking ticket instead of discovering that their vehicle has been towed.