Throwing lit cigarette to cost lot more in City of North Vancouver

In the City of North Vancouver, throwing a lit cigarette on the road will cost you a heavy fine. The fine for ‘Unlawful Fire or Lit Material’ is going up from $75 to $500.

At a March 4 council meeting, the council approved changes to several updates brought forward by staff to the CNV’s fees, charges, and fines. The most significant increase was fine for throwing a lit cigarette on the road in the City of North Vancouver. According to the bylaw, “A person must not…dispose of any lighted or extinguished cigarette, cigar, match, smoking or vaporizing equipment or other burning substance except into a garbage container or other container designed for such disposal.

Other fines are also increasing, such as parking within 6m of a crosswalk, intersection, or stop sign, parked unattached trailers, truck off a designated truck route, vehicle weight loads, and unsecured vehicle load.

Below are the approved changes in fines:

Unlawful Fire or Lit Material: fine goes up from $75 to $500

Parking within 6m of a crosswalk: $50 to  $110

Parking within 6m of an intersection: $50 to $110

Parking within 6m of a stop sign: $50 to $110

Damage/Excavate Street without approval: $100 to $450

Truck off designated route without approval: $100 to $450

Unsecured vehicle load: $155 to $200

The effective date of the bylaw amendment is January 1, 2024.

According to the staff report prepared by the City of North Vancouver, the current fines may not reflect the actual environmental or social impacts of parking or other violations. “Raising the cost of fines will help deter individuals from contravening various local bylaws, including those relating to illegal parking and disposal of lit substances,” staff noted.