Some residents may soon have to find other parking arrangements
by Michelle Minnoch

You may be able to park that boat or school bus in your driveway for now, but after some revisions are made to the by-law, you may have to find other parking arrangements.

Council received the Property Standards By-Law revisions Wednesday night, but it will be coming back to council at a later date.

The revisions include; all licensed vehicles in excess of 4,000 kilograms GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight), excluding farm plated vehicles, to be parked or stored on a proper driveway at a distance in excess of 50 metres from all property lines; all licensed farm vehicles in excess of 4,000 kilograms GVW are required to be parked or stored on a driveway in excess of 20 metres from the property lines; the total number of licensed vehicles in excess of 4,000 kilograms GVW, excluding motor vehicles bearing farm vehicle registration, shall not exceed two; the total number of licensed trailers as vehicles to be parked or stored on a property, excluding farm trailers as vehicles, shall not exceed two.

Council adopted the new Lot Maintenance by-law (092-06) in 2006 to address cleanliness issues. According to Staff Report PDS-037-07, regarding heavy vehicle parking, "as the Town continues to grow, complaints related to this activity appears to be increasing".

Councilor Lynn Dollin stated when ever they try and fix one problem, 10 others are created.

"I am in favour of revisiting this by-law yet again," she said. "What about school bus drivers?" Councillor Dollin said they are many who drive school buses and have to park their vehicles in their driveways. She said the complaint she mostly receives are regarding people who park their boats in their driveways.

Director of Planning, Rob McAuley said there are not only cases of school buses being parked on streets, but tractor trailers as well. "We are trying to ban these from urban areas," he said.

Currently, he said the bylaw does not include boat trailers.

Mayor Brian Jackson said there needs to be a definition of a driveway, so people cannot park vehicles on their lawns.

Councillor Peter Kmet inquired about boats that are on blocks in people's driveways.

McAuley said that would fall under "other types" of vehicles. Councillor Rod Boynton said he believed a boat on a trailer is a licensed vehicle.

Councillor Dollin said her concern was getting the information out to the public about the by-law. "I know people who have been parking their school bus on their property for the past 20 years."

McAuley said he had no problem conveying the message to school bus companies.

Councillor Bill Van Berkel said it is not only school buses, but dump trucks as well. "There are just as many dump trucks in driveways as there are school busses," he said. "The dump truck driver has no place to put their vehicles, school bus drivers have a lot to go to."

McAuley said the main problem is the vehicles that are parked in urban areas.

Councillor Lynn Dollin said she would like the people to have their say, and also suggested changing 50 metres to 30 metres.

Councillor Van Berkel said it was a difficult situation, and he understood both sides of the coin. "We are going to have to look at this very carefully."

He said he appreciated council wanting to get the by-law passed, but he said it should be a phased in approach.

Mayor Brian Jackson suggested the by-law come back in two to three weeks.