Kitchener considers creating anti-idling bylaw

Kitchener city staff have been tasked with looking into whether the city needs an anti-idling bylaw.

Staff received the direction Monday night during a council meeting after Coun. Margaret Johnston said a bylaw is needed.

Johnston says she watches as parents park and idle their cars in the school parking lot near her home.

"I see parents that arrive at school sometimes 40 minutes before school starts and sit in the car with their kids," she said.

"I think, if you're going to arrive that early, first of all, you live close enough in the catchment area to walk your children. And secondly, get out of your car and go play with them."

Johnston says a bylaw would fit with the city's corporate climate action plan as well ascouncillors declaring a climate emergency last year.

"It's something that everyday citizens can do if they think about it," she said. "It's an important thing that cuts a lot of carbon emissions out of our atmosphere."

Nearby cities have idling bylaws

Both Waterloo and Cambridge already have anti-idling bylaws.

Christopher Mulhern is the manager of compliance and standards for the City of Waterloo. He says the city allows just three minutes of idling before a driver can be charged.

There are some exceptions if people are warming up or cooling down their vehicles in extreme temperatures.

"You might not have to idle your car for too long in the morning when it's not a requirement for your car to have to heat up, it may just be that it's a comfort-level piece," he said. "We're trying to let people know, especially with climate change, some of those comforts need to be rethought and re-looked at."

The city has only handed out a handful of tickets since the bylaw came into effect about a decade ago.

The main focus of bylaw enforcement has been educating people about the bylaw and why idling isn't allowed.

In Cambridge, drivers are not allowed to idle for more than one minute. If caught, they could face a $40 fine.

The original bylaw from 2009 banned idling in front of city hall and near schools. That was expanded in 2015 to include idling near libraries, arenas, seniors' centres, pools and parks.