Sunny Sunday lures Newmarket traffic, but folks behave, bylaws boss says

'People seem to appreciate why the rules are in place': No tickets issued for coronavirus rules violations

Yorkregion.com
May 5, 2020
John Cudmore

The first warm, sunny spring Sunday brought people out of self-imposed isolation, if only for a few hours.

No surprise that after weeks of hunkering down and sheltering from COVID-19, residents would want to let loose.

With many enjoying a walk in the park or on trails throughout the municipality as temperatures climbed into the low 20s C, there existed potential for more Newmarket residents to manoeuver in closer quarters.

For bylaws officers, however, a spectacular day brought their first true test for enforcing safe distancing policies.

A gorgeous May 3 resulted in 1,420 interactions and observations between bylaws officers and people using public space. While no tickets were issued for violating the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, 44 residents were encountered and provided with education and voluntary compliance measures.

"I am very happy to see that out of 44 warnings given, there were no issues," said Flynn Scott, Newmarket’s manager of regulatory services.

"Given the amount of activity on Sunday due to the nice weather, I expected pushback, but all officers reported very respectful and positive responses from the public."

It capped a week starting April 27 during which a total of 2,483 interactions and observations were conducted in 274 park patrols. In total, there were 119 warnings issued.

"Everyone was extremely friendly, apologetic, and adapted to the reminder or education provided," Scott said. "People seem to appreciate why the rules are in place and are respecting those rules.

"If there is a violation, they are immediately apologizing and acknowledging that they understand the rationale and move on."

The main areas of concern centre on an increase in calls for private dwelling social gatherings, bicycles on the trails system, and small groups playing on sports fields.

Overall, formal complaints rose despite a drop for parks complaints from 25 to 15 from the previous week.

There were increases in business complaints from 20 to 22, social gatherings (46 from 36) and 29 general inquires, up from 24 the previous week.