Taxpayers are on the hook for abandoned vehicles in Toronto

Thestar.com
January 9, 2020
Jack Lakey

Anybody looking for a used -- as in seriously abused -- motor home, or maybe a food wagon? Get on over to Hymus Road and help yourself.

There’s no hurry; they’ve gone unclaimed for many months. OK, they’re fixer-uppers, but free to a forever home.

Last summer, somebody who has zero respect for the law or the community illegally dumped them on the street in an industrial area, where they’ve languished ever since, to the frustration of the locals.

Dan Bonnett emailed to say he’s a business owner on Hymus “and I can’t seem to find anyone who can help remove these big smashed up house trailers on the street,” near his property.

He said they’ve “been there for over six months, (making) it look like a dangerous dirty area that is causing my business to suffer.

“I have talked to the city, reference # 6177003, contacted (the local city councillor’s) office at least 10 times. Now they don’t return my calls,” he said, noting that he even appealed to his local MP, but no dice.

He added that a family member who worked for the city “told me about you and said he would look after the complaints you write about. I’m hoping you can help me as I don’t know who else to reach out to.”

I went there and found a graffiti-scrawled motor home packed with old tires and garbage, with side panels falling off and trash strewn around it. To say it is disgusting is an understatement.

Parked next to it is a no less ratty trailer that was once a mobile food wagon. A sign on it says “The Best Tasting Gyros,” next to another sign that says “DineSafe Durham food safety inspection disclosure program.”

The vehicles are parked next to the curb, within the road allowance, which is city property. Whether city officials like it or not, the city is responsible for getting rid of them.

So far, they’ve tried to shirk responsibility. Both vehicles have notices from the city, dated Sept. 19, duct-taped to them, ordering the owner to remove them within 48 hours.

But neither have license plates, meaning the last owner can’t be identified.

STATUS: We got in touch with transportation services, which is responsible for right-of-way issues. Here’s the reply: “Staff are aware of the illegally parked vehicles on Hymus Road. There have been delays in getting the necessary equipment to safely remove the vehicles and staff have been working with a contractor to have them removed as soon as possible.”