City of Richmond bylaw officers issued 111 tickets in the Hamilton neighbourhood in the last two months, with 68 of them in the immediate area of the community centre and elementary school.
Hamilton resident Lori Kindler said the neighbourhood around the school and elementary has been plagued with illegal parking and she's "fed up" with drivers illegally parking on Smith Drive, which runs in front of the school.
She added some drivers even use homeowners' driveways to drop off their kids at school.
"The (situation with) parents that are dropping off children on Smith Drive has been getting worse and dangerous for us who walk our children to school," said Kindler.
"They even stop on crosswalks."
She added the school's principal has emailed and spoken to parents in person about the issue, but nothing has changed.
Kindler is urging the City of Richmond to have bylaw officers patrol the area more often, especially during morning and afternoon dropoff and pickup times.
City spokesperson Clay Adams told the Richmond News that bylaw enforcement is "primarily complaint-based," except for school patrols, which follow a rotating schedule.
Between September and December, six scheduled school patrols resulted in 50 tickets being issued.
Adams explained most of the tickets were for "safety and obstruction," such as illegal parking, sign violations and exceeding parking time limits.
Kindler said residents appreciate the city lowering the speed limit to 30km/h on inner neighbourhood streets, but "hardly anyone follows (or) abides by it, especially in the school zone."
When asked about speeding enforcement in neighbourhoods, Adams said vehicle violations fall under the Richmond RCMP's jurisdiction and not the city's.
Cpl. Adriana O'Malley, media liaison with Richmond RCMP, said tickets being issued in Hamilton are part of a larger zone that includes all of east Richmond and Highway 91.
In 2024, Richmond RCMP issued a total of 1064 violation tickets under the Motor Vehicle Act in this entire zone, she explained.
Richmond RCMP is reminding all drivers to abide by speed limits.
“Our officers are actively conducting enforcement in the Hamilton area to address concerns raised by residents," said Sgt. Eric Baskette with Richmond RCMP Road Safety Unit.
"We remind all drivers to slow down, obey traffic laws, and be mindful of pedestrians and other road users."
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