If a $5 fine won’t get people’s attention, perhaps a $20 parking fine will.

When the winter parking ban kicks in on Nov. 15, those parking illegally in Allenstown will face fines four times higher than the current fee. Selectmen agreed on the hike at their Oct. 20 meeting.

There are fewer places for some residents to park their cars as well, with parking restricted to one side of the street only on Whitten, Ferry and Webster streets, as well as Granite Street from the intersection of Main Street to the entrance to the Rite Aid Plaza.

Sandra McKenney, a former Allenstown selectman and resident of Main Street, near the affected streets, is upset at the changes, especially given the downtown in the economy.

“I mean, give us a break,” she said. “Five dollars is enough. That kind of increase is ridiculous.”

“The objective with the new fine amount is to limit the amount of tickets written,” said Police Chief Shaun Mullholland. “The objective is to convince violators that the risk and cost is to high to violate the parking ordinances. We anticipate less tickets written and less fine revenue due to this increase.”

The town currently takes in about $3,000 a year in parking fines, said Mulholland, which barely covers administrative costs.

Restricting the parking on the four streets just changed is intended to make it easier for snowplows and other maintenance vehicles to get through.

In the minutes from the July 21 seletmen’s meeting, road agent Chris Roy talked about how he couldn’t get plows through some roads with cars parked on both sides of the street.

Roy and the police chief measured the paved portions of Granite Street, which are 25, 23 and 21 feet wide; Ferry Street, which is 21 feet; Whitten Street, which is 21 feet; and Webster Street, which is 24 feet. A small dump truck is 10 feet wide and a police cruiser is 7.5 feet wide, according to those minutes.

This past summer, Jennifer Morin, a resident of Granite Street, presented a petition to town requesting that no changes be made, but, meeting resistance, managed to get selectmen to agree to restricting the parking to the north side of the street. During the normal winter parking ban, no vehicle can be on the street overnight between Nov. 15 and April 15.

“We were able to convince them that keeping the parking on the north side was the right thing to do,” she said.

Signs restricting parking were in place since the early part of October.

“Plenty of people are receiving tickets,” said Morin.

If the problem was with snowplows getting through, though, said Morin, she couldn’t understand why the ban had to be year-round.

“I still think it’s not needed, but I did my part. I fought for what I wanted,” she said.

The new fine amount is based upon several factors, said Mullholland.

“We looked at what other towns were charging such as Pembroke ($20),” he said. “At $5, many people would have ignored the parking ban or other parking restrictions as the risk of receiving a ticket at worse is only $5. The objective of a fine is to impose a penalty that would convince people to comply with the law, the risks not being worth the price. The cost of administering the parking tickets is more than what we are taking in, in fines.”

While parking fines, particularly for those who ignore the first ticket, result in some income to the town’s general fund, it’s not an income-generator for the town.

“We are a small police department (and) our objective is to limit the time and resources spent on parking issues to the extent possible,” said Mulholland. “In larger communities, parking fines are a considerable source of revenue. That is not the case here and our hope is that we will write less tickets.”

Don’t ignore those tickets. Penalties for unpaid tickets move from $20 to $50, and if another notice is sent, the penalty goes to $100.