“Technically, the way you’re parking is illegal,” he said, noting that legally, drivers are only permitted to angle park in areas with the appropriate signage, which is not present downtown. “That shouldn’t be happening.”
Iutzi said angle parking on the north side of the street is dangerous, as many motorists cannot see when a vehicle is coming toward them while backing out, and can lead to collisions.
He said he felt if the angle parking was instead on the south side of the street, and the north side was instead parallel parking, there would be far fewer visibility problems.
“You also wouldn’t have such bad congestion in intersections,” said Iutzi.
He also mentioned the issue of cyclists riding on the sidewalk instead of on the roadway.
Under the current bicycle bylaw, children under the age of 14 are permitted to ride on the sidewalk.
Iutzi said he felt this should be limited to children under the age of eight years, as allowing cyclists on the sidewalk is dangerous to pedestrians and people coming out of businesses.
According to Iutzi, there is also an issue with residents of apartments in downtown Blairmore parking on municipal property, as it is difficult to find somewhere to park.
He said he felt there should be a parking lot in the area, where residents could purchase a monthly parking pass at a low rate, so that they are not parking illegally on municipal property.
Finally, Iutzi said a major issue in the community is that of untidy yards and junky vehicles.
He said hoarding of vehicles and other items which are then kept in yard sites clutters our neighbourhoods and makes the community appear junky and disorderly.
“The goal should be to attract visitors, residents and businesses to the community by keeping yards and homes tidy and presentable,” said Iutzi.
He said he is often met with resistance by those he orders to clean up such problems, and that better community support is needed to help those who cannot afford to clean up their yards, or who are unable.
He said he is willing to work with individual residents to come up with solutions to the problem.