It's a parking free-for-all in Markham, chief bylaw officer admits

'It's very dangerous and they block the sidewalk too," resident

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 27, 2017
By Tim Kelly

Markham resident Sal Liberto doesn't get it.

Why does the city of Markham not enforce its parking bylaws when residents blatantly break them in his residential neighbourhood.

Liberto has plenty of evidence - the pictures to prove it - of parking scofflaws who lean out well into the road or crowd the sidewalk or park on their front lawns.

And it bugs him to the point he has been contacting the city about the problem going back years believing ticketing will fix the problem.

Liberto worries it's only a matter of time before a driver clips a car and he doesn't think it's fair that residents block sidewalks with their cars. He also thinks it's unsightly and ugly that front lawns are used as parking lots.

"It's very dangerous and they block the sidewalk too," said Liberto, who lives on Rose Way off Ninth Line.

"It's a safety issue. They're (bylaw officials) saying it's happening all over Markham not just in my neighbourhood. What's funny is that they have a garage and they're not using it for their cars," he said.

Chris Alexander, Markham's acting chief bylaw officer, said the city has decided to look the other way when it comes to this issue.

Alexander admits many aren't adhering to the actual letter of the bylaw but says he's fine with that.

"It's a bit of a mixed message but we want to make sure we get the cars off the streets," he said.

He said the city does allow vehicles to encroach a little onto the boulevard and onto the sidewalk but within limits.

"They can't encroach on the sidewalk where they totally block the person from passing. If they are posing a hazard on the boulevard portion of the road or interfering with traffic, we would tag for that. It's the discretion of the officer. Safety comes first," said Alexander.

All bets are off come winter-time, when drivers must clear the road and get off the sidewalks completely.

"We have zero tolerance in the winter months because we have snow plows plowing the streets as well as the sidewalks," said Alexander.