Is ByWard Market Ticketing A Cash-Grab?
To ticket or not to ticket … that is the question.
The night mayor, aka night commissioner Mathieu Grondin, was hired to increase both public awareness and business interests in the ByWard Market.
That said, over-zealous ticketing from bylaw officers isn’t helping to attract businesses. It’s a hindrance.
Grondin is studying all aspects of the ByWard Market including, one hopes, ensuring revamping outdated bylaws to accommodate deliveries to shops. How long must businesses complain before being heard? How long does it take Grondin to to make a case to bylaw or city council? Has anyone heard from him lately save for that much touted long-term dream he released as an attempt to quell the masses?
Recently, an over-zealous bylaw officer was observed ticketing a roofing company while workers were in the midst of scraping off and filling their trailer with old shingles. The ticket was issued because the trailer was blocking part of the sidewalk. The roofers were stunned at the arrogance as was the homeowner.
Sometimes one must use the brains with which one is blessed.
Insofar as the ByWard Market is concerned, is it quotas for the city coffers or improved bylaw awareness of how businesses must work to survive? It’s not a difficult question for Grondin et al to solve.
Donna Mulvihill is a community activist and former hospital coordinator.
For You:
CITY HALL: The New Superior Class: BENN
What’s With The ByWard Market Ticketing? MULVIHILL
We’ll Need A City Council By-Election: PATTON
Councillors Don’t Get It: BENN
Noversight Rules At Ottawa City Hall: BENN
Bookmark The Bulldog, click here
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
As an addendum .. after this storm folks who couldn’t drive into their laneways because of the massive widrows left by the plows, Bylaw was out ticketing vehicles while those same folks were shovelling to put their cars in their driveways.
How incredibly ignorant.
Cash grab? … You betcha!
Donna, unfortunately it’s gonna take a lot more parking tickets to recoup a $36M deficit.
I don’t know what Grondin has to do with tickets issued during the day to people trying to make deliveries to merchants in the Market area. He is the Night Mayor and, from what Byward Market businesses tell me, the issue is tickets handed out during the day.
The problem, as it was explained to me, isn’t over-zealous bylaw officers but a) the restrictive bylaws they’re enforcing which don’t have any leeway built in to accommodate deliveries and b) the lack of appropriate loading zones which would allow deliveries to be made without blocking needed parking spaces. The place to take these grievances would be to the local councillor to ask for a review of the parking bylaws and the provisions for loading zones so that the needs of the community are reflected properly.
One thing that the current bylaws doesn’t seem to acknowledge is that different businesses have very different delivery patterns that need to be accommodated. For example, a furniture store may have several deliveries a week of large heavy items that take time to unload while a restaurant that serves fresh food may have several small deliveries every day which are quick to unload but are more frequent.
If you don’t want a ticket, don’t break the bylaw.
If you need to block the sidewalk for a roofing job, the proper thing is to get an encroachment permit. Don’t act surprised when your actions have consequences.
Voter, the parking restrictions are part of the problem. The other part involves over-zealous By-Law Officers. Professional judgement matters. Seeing what is obviously a delivery vehicle (size, branding/logos) that is parked improperly, but has its four way flashers on and the back or side door open is an indication that a delivery is likely underway. A By-Law officer exercising professional judgement could note it and circle back in 15-30 minutes to see if the transgression remains.