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When it comes to on-street parking in Vaughan, keep it simple, stupid


Yorkregion.com
Jan. 29, 2015
By Kim Champion

It’s incredibly good news that the debate about on-street parking is back on the block. After all, the issue has been parked for nearly three long years.

At the time, the Citizen heard from more readers in support of on-street parking than just about any other topic in recent memory.

We agreed with them then and still do now.

What’s troubling, though, is the city’s latest incarnation of what an on-street parking permit program would look like. It left us scratching our heads.

But you be the judge.

City staff last week presented a report to our local politicians that recommended implementing an on-street parking permit program.

Sadly, the process under consideration for having one’s street designated for on-street parking is excessively bureaucratic, overly time-consuming and just too darn cumbersome for most residents to take on.

While nothing is set in stone, as it stands now, if you want on-street parking on your street here’s what you would be required to do:

I don’t know about you, but I’m parched just thinking about the process. At that rate, it could take another three years, or longer, before any of this moves forward.

It seems most of us are in agreement Vaughan needs some sort of on-street parking permit program. A quick drive around our neighbourhoods clearly demonstrates the kind of chaos unregulated on-street and overnight parking has been causing for some time now.

Vaughan is a city of drivers and, let’s face it, the vehicles are not disappearing overnight.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t stop pressing for improved public transit, carpooling and cycling as viable transportation options.

A city should, ideally, evolve along with the people who live in it. And readers tell us their home lives are changing. Older parents are moving in, an adult child is moving back and rooms are being rented to help make ends meet. All of which is to say the standard driveway is no longer sufficient.

Rather than getting into the business of increasing garage setbacks or paving over front lawns, the folks at the city would do better to come up with a simple, safety-first, on-street parking permit program that could have the added boost of generating new revenue for its coffers.

It’s a well-known principle most systems work best if they are kept simple and not made complicated.

What we’ve seen to date from the city has come up woefully short. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but let’s at least give it a place to park.