Halifax city councillors can't overturn the winter parking ban introduced this week — despite the protests of their constituents — but they are looking for alternative ways around it.

The ban, imposed by the Halifax Regional Municipality's traffic authority on Monday, prohibits parking between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. in all weather conditions over the winter. At a meeting of the HRM council Tuesday evening, Coun. Dawn Sloane presented a petition from 292 residents who want the ban removed.

But only the traffic authority — whose powers come from provincial legislation — can reverse the ban. Those without driveways have complained that the ban leaves them with a dearth of spots to park their cars, said Sloane.

Some councillors, including Jerry Blumenthal and Sloane, proposed opening up municipal parking areas to residents in order to ease demand for spots.

But Coun. Debbie Hum said opening up HRM facilities to provide residents with additional parking could be logistically difficult.

"I don't know if we realize what we're getting into here," Hum said.

"Those implications of parking in a community facility parking lot — day or night — poses some other problems.

"And I think we're taking some of this way too far."

Stiffer fine proposed

For the previous three winters, drivers were barred from parking overnight only if a snowstorm hit. But the city received complaints about the amount of time it took to clear side streets following this season's first big snowstorm last month.

At the time, about a dozen vehicles that impeded snow-clearing efforts had to be towed.

Coun. Andrew Younger said the parking ban does not effectively address the problem of clearing streets of snow. Currently, those caught violating it are subject to a $25 fine.

"It strikes me we would be better off … prohibiting parking on the street during a storm and during cleanup," he said.

"The problem at the moment is a $25 fine in the odd storm isn't a deterrent."

He suggested a $250 penalty would be more likely to deter would-be overnight parkers than a blanket ban.

Councillors made other suggestions at the meeting, such as creating a website where people could go to find nearby homes that have empty driveways that they could share or rent. But it's unclear how long it will take for any of the recommendations to be implemented.

The ban will be lifted on March 30.

It doesn't apply to emergency vehicles, commercial drivers in the process of loading or unloading, taxis parked at taxi stands and on-call doctors parked near their offices and homes.

"Having streets free and clear of parked vehicles during snow storms makes for safe, efficient and cost-effective snow removal operations and facilitates better mobility by emergency response agencies," said the HRM in a Thursday news release announcing the ban.

There are 13 other municipalities in Nova Scotia that have also banned parking in select streets this winter.