Vaughan residents say parking enforcement officers at VMC are overzealous

Thestar.com
Aug. 30, 2022
Brian Capitao

Some residents are feeling the fury with bylaw enforcement officers cracking down on parking at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC).

“As soon as you even stop for like three or five seconds just to drop somebody off, there are enforcement officers taking pictures of your license and then giving you a summons ticket,” said Tony Bucci.

Bucci is among several residents who feel frustrated with the way the city is dealing with parking enforcement. There have been reports that bylaw officers are ticketing people with proper permits for parking in spaces for people with physical disabilities, which does not bode well for accessibility.

“You're only allowed like a couple of minutes, and just to get out of the vehicle and get a wheelchair or something else out there to help ... it's ridiculous,” said Bucci.

Jay Niranjan is among those who feels unduly targeted and frustrated by not having any place to park when picking up or dropping off his daughter, who has a physical disability.

“This drop-off spot, it's fully packed by either Uber or taxi guys, including even the medical parking ... There are only two slots for medical parking and both will be always occupied,” he said.

Niranjan says he always co-ordinates the pickup and drop-offs with his daughter, who struggles to walk after more than 10 surgeries on her leg.

“She cannot walk more than two to three minutes at a time. If she has to, then she has to sit down somewhere to continue to walk,” he explained. “What I am feeling, it's harassment. We are unnecessarily getting penalized.”
Not everyone sees the bylaw officers as heavy-handed as residents make them out to be, however.

“It's pretty OK most of the time. During the rush hours of 7 to 9 and 4 to 6, the city gets a little bit difficult. The police are usually here around that time, whenever the weather's nice, and they give a warning to people to move out of the area that's specifically for disabled parking or to not park in areas where there's no stopping at all,” said Miriam Barghash.

While there are designated spots for disability parking, sometimes people with the proper permits will park in the wrong spot.

The city said it continues to monitor and enforce parking violations in the VMC.

“Citizens must have an accessible parking permit to park in a designated accessible space,” said a city spokesperson in an emailed statement. “Permits must be valid on the date of parking and need to be displayed properly with the front clearly visible.”

Still, residents would like to be given an adequate amount of time to get from point A to point B.

“Sometimes trains are delayed and you end up staying an extra 10 minutes longer. What are you going to do? Keep circling? It just doesn't make any sense,” said Sam D’Ambrosio.

Some residents have suggested a Kiss-and-Ride stop or multi-level parking, similar to what’s at some of the GO stations.

“I hope a resolution is in the making soon, but I don't know with space and all, I can't see where they're going to do this," he said. “Kiss and ride would be a great idea, but I don't even see where they would even try to implement that.”

Parking will no doubt continue to be a growing pain, as the City of Vaughan will see massive growth in the next few years.

“As this area continues to grow in terms of people and construction with those condos in the area, the situation is probably only going to get worse,” said Barghash. “But just like any other situation with human congestion, there's problems when it comes to urban design.”