Sidewalk installation breaks town's bylaws, Clarinet Lane residents say

Mark Mickovski and other residents in the new subdivision formed a petition

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 6, 2016
By Ali Raza

Residents of a new subdivision in Stouffville have created a petition in response to the installation of sidewalks on their street.

The petition accuses the town of breaking its own bylaws as sidewalks would render several driveways to have one parking spot instead of two.

Resident Mark Mickovski started the petition that now has 46 signatures. He says residents were sold houses with plans showing no sidewalks.

“Four houses on our street made the purchases with that in mind,” he said. “It’s a selling point, maintains the property value, and if you have a lot of vehicles - which some of us do - it’s a key feature.”

Mickovski further explained that residents with more than one vehicle are now in a difficult situation; they can’t park on the street and they can’t park on the section of driveway that the sidewalk occupies.

Citing a town zoning bylaw, Mickovski says the installation of sidewalks would force residents to have just one parking space in their detached dwellings instead of the mandated two.

Mickovski’s street, Clarinet Lane, is brand new. Residents moved in September of this year and the last-minute construction is still ongoing.

After speaking with local councillor Iain Lovatt and the town, Mickovski says he’s not satisfied with answers he’s been given.

“Now they’re saying ‘technically you can use your garage’,” he said. “Legally your garage is part of your dwelling.”

Lovatt sympathizes with the residents, referencing an identical case that occurred with him when he moved to Stouffville.

“The really hard part is they bought their homes seeing a plan that was not the official subdivision plan,” Lovatt said.

Residents purchased their homes in September 2014 after being shown a draft plan, Lovatt explained. The subdivision plan registered with the town in April 2015 showed sidewalks in Clarinet Lane - eight months after residents bought their homes.

To avoid the miscommunication in future developments, Lovatt said he has made a request with development services that for future development the “onus is put on the developer to get a signature from residents saying they’ve seen the subdivision plan and they know what they’re getting.”

The petitioners will attend the town council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 20 to present their case to mayor and council.

The petition is available online at https://www.change.org/p/justin-altmann-stop-city-council-from-breaking-its-own-by-laws