The concerns include cars being left for hours, sometimes even days at a time, town workers using the area as an unofficial ‘park and ride’, and a lack of deterrents to stop them.
A new sign has been put up at the shopping precinct warning vehicle owners they will be fined £60 if they leave their cars parked there for longer than three hours.
But questions have been raised about whether the fine is enforceable.
St Brelade Constable Steve Pallett and parish Deputy Montfort Tadier have raised concerns about the sign and believe that such fines cannot be legally enforced.
Miguel Almelda, the manager of the Bean Café at the precinct, said: ‘I arrive every morning at 6 am and there are already many cars parked here.
‘People park their cars and then get the bus into town. For businesses that pay the rent, it is not fair.
‘My customers want to be able to park and often they can’t. I don’t know if fining people is the right thing, but there should be more control.’
The land is privately owned but managed by Voisin-Hunter Ltd, while security firm Raven Security Services Ltd is responsible for collecting the fines.
According to the sign, motorists should display in their car the time at which they arrived and have been told that if they park their cars there they are entering into a ‘contractual agreement’ not to remain in place for longer than three hours.
They are warned they will face a £60 fine if they break the conditions of the contract.
However, current laws in the Island suggest that a private landowner can only apply to seek damages if someone leaves a vehicle on their land and cannot order a fixed parking fine.
Mr Pallett said: ‘A fine cannot be enforced because it is private land, but it is up to those that own the land to decide if the sign should be taken down or not.
‘The company who own the land need to be able to manage that so that there is a deterrent to stop people being able to park all day.’
Deputy Tadier said: ‘There are no laws to make the fines enforceable. I am not aware of any cases where someone has been prosecuted in court. No one has authority to issue the fines.’
Although no fines have yet been issued by the security firm, a spokeswoman who works in a business based in the precinct said that she thinks the sign has already worked as a deterrent.
