Edmonton Minute: Parking Meters, School Zones, and Christmas Tree Pickup

Edmonton Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Edmonton politics

This Week In Edmonton:

• There is a single meeting at City Hall this week - the Agenda Review Committee will meet on Tuesday at 8:30 am. The Committee will take a look at the agendas for next week.
  
  
• If you have a natural Christmas tree, you’ll have to hang on to it for a little while longer because the City is only beginning pickup on January 22nd. Pickups will be based on capacity and will not necessarily take place on your regular collection day. Residents are urged to place their trees outside by 7:00 am on the 22nd. All decorations and lights should be removed, and trees exceeding 6.5 feet should be cut into two pieces. Unbagged trees should be positioned on their side beside the garbage or food scraps cart.
  
  
• The City’s installation of EPark meters in the North Edge area, just northwest of downtown, is causing some business owners frustration. Some were surprised by the sudden installation, questioning the lack of advance notice. The City's move to introduce paid parking aims to address parking congestion issues and competing demands for space in the North Edge area. However, business owners expressed concerns about the potential negative impact on customers and employees, calling for more transparency and reconsideration by the City.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• The City revised its approach to handling large homeless encampments, updating its policy shortly before facing a court challenge over removal tactics. City crews must now confirm sufficient shelter capacity, notify Council of removal plans, and obtain approval from the Deputy City Manager of Community Services before proceeding. The revised policy, revealed in a new flow chart on the City's website, mirrors rules set by an Alberta court for removing specific inner-city camps.
  
  
• Edmonton experienced a significant surge in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responses to opioid-related incidents in 2023, with a 44% increase from the previous year. The latest provincial data reveals that EMS responded to 5,048 opioid-related events in 2023 compared to 3,503 in 2022. Edmonton currently surpasses other Alberta cities in opioid-related responses, with Calgary reporting 2,965 incidents in 2023. Overdose calls in Edmonton nearly doubled over the past two years, reaching 9,299 by December 18th, 2023, compared to 6,552 in 2022 and 5,186 in 2021.
  
  
• New data showed that, in a 12-month span, an enforcement site monitoring southbound traffic near Rideau Park School and DS MacKenzie Junior High School produced over 2,000 photo radar tickets, representing more than 10% of all tickets issued in the city's playground zones. The data, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, covered photo radar tickets from October 1st, 2022, to September 30th, 2023. Overall, 20,312 tickets were issued across all playground zones in Edmonton - an average of 56 per day.

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