6.VENN CRESCENT

 i)Proposal to Rescind the Current Alternate Side Parking Regulation

on Venn Crescent and to Implement an Exclusive North Side Parking Regulation

ii)Proposal to Implement On-Street Permit Parking on Venn Crescent, Between Blackthorn Avenue and Eglinton Avenue West

 Purpose:

 To provide results of a poll of residents on Venn Crescent regarding the above subject matter.

 Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

 None.

 Recommendations:

 For consideration and direction of York Community Council.

 Council Reference/Background/History:

 Clause No.139 embodied in Report No. 16 of the City of York Works and Parks Committee.

 The Council of the City of York, at its meeting held on December 9, 1997, directed that the City Clerk conduct a poll of residents on Venn Crescent to determine resident interest in a) rescinding the current alternate side parking on Venn Crescent and implementing an exclusive north side parking regulation and b) implementing on-street permit parking on the north side of Venn Crescent.

 Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

 The following is a breakdown of residents polled to determine interest in the above-mentioned proposals based on the number of replies returned:

 Total No. Polled:57

No. of Replies Received and Counted:17 or 30%

Other Replies Received, but Not Counted:3

(Residents= Names & Addresses Not Included)

  Residents were asked to reply to two separate questions:

 Question #1:

 Proposal to rescind the current alternate side parking regulation on Venn Crescent and to implement an exclusive north side parking regulation.:

 I am in favour of the proposal to rescind the current alternate side parking regulation on Venn Crescent and to implement an exclusive north side parking regulation.

 I am not in favour of the proposal to rescind the current alternate side parking regulation on Venn Crescent and to implement an exclusive north side parking regulation.

 It should be noted that, although poll forms were returned by 13 property owners, one did not respond to this question.

 Question #2:

 Proposal to implement on-street permit parking on Venn Crescent, between Blackthorn Avenue and Eglinton Avenue West:

 I am in favour of the proposal to implement on-street permit parking on Venn Crescent, between Blackthorn Avenue and Eglinton Avenue West.

 I am not in favour of the proposal to implement on-street permit parking on Venn Crescent, between Blackthorn Avenue and Eglinton Avenue West.

 Comments from residents are attached hereto as APPENDIX 1.

 Conclusions:

Based on the responses received:

 i)The majority of residents are not in favour of the proposal to rescind the current alternate side parking regulation on Venn Crescent and to implement an exclusive north side parking regulation.

 ii)The majority of residents are not in favour of the proposal to implement on-street permit parking on Venn Crescent, between Blackthorn Avenue and Eglinton Avenue West.

 Contact Name:

 Steve Brown, Operations Services - Traffic Division

394-2655

394-2758 (fax)

 or

 Valerie D=Alessandro

394-2803 (fax)

 APPENDIX 1

 Comments From Residents:

 a)I=m the ratepayer who initiated this request. If the proposal doesn=t pass, what are the alternatives?

 b)Would like to see speed limit reduced to 40 km/h and speed bumps placed on Venn Cres. as there are speeders.

 c)Your letter made a statement several times that A...During the months December through to March, an exclusive one side parking regulation is in effect for the north side of the street...@. Unless I am mistaken, during these months, the exclusive one side parking regulation is in effect for the south side, not the north side, as the signs currently read onVenn Crescent.

 I understand that you would like to implement an exclusive north side parking regulation, as well as implement on-street permit parking on Venn Crescent, between Blackthorn Avenue and Eglinton Ave. West. I am not 100% in favour of this, the reason being is that it is already difficult (when there are cars parked on the north side) to get access into and out of our driveway. The driveways on the south side are narrow and therefore you need to make wide turns in order to get into or out of the driveways.

 We live at the beginning of Venn Crescent. Our driveway is the first one on the street and when cars are parked directly in front of the driveway, it makes it very difficult to get easy access to our driveway. I do not know if anyone else experiences this since because most of the time cars park at the beginning of Venn Crescent (around our driveway).

 My family has experienced two accidents and many close calls with cars speeding around the corner of Venn Crescent (from Blackthorn Ave.) as we have been backing out of our driveway. If a car would be constantly parked in front of our driveway, I feel more chances of accidents happening will increase due to the fact that these speeding cars may end up hitting the parked cars (parked in front of our driveway) because they are trying to avoid hitting us. This is another thing that I do not understand, the 50 km/h speed limit.

 If cars are going to be constantly parked on one side, I do not believe that this small two-way street would even allow two cars to travel at this speed (50 km/h) safely when the street is narrowed by another car constantly parked on one side of the road. I do not even think it is possible to be travelling at this speed on Venn Crescent since the beginning and end of this street decline!

 If possible, can you implement this exclusive north side parking regulation to start a few more meters away from Blackthorn Avenue (and our driveway) so that we can avoid more accidents from happening? Maybe two or three curbside parking spots would be eliminated from your total of thirty that the field surveys revealed. This would lower your potential revenue a little, but I feel that safety is more important.

 I am hoping that you will consider these points with your proposal.

 Further comments from the same resident:

 Please accept this letter with the one originally sent to you, with one more comment to include.

 My family and I have lived on this street for almost twenty years now and I do not remember having a problem with parking on this street in the past. Now we have a new homeowner in the area who claims that he is not familiar with all the municipal bylaws and parking regulations. First of all, if this new homeowner owned a car when he bought this house, where did he think he would park his car if his new home did not have a driveway or front yard parking? No offence to this new homeowner, considering that I myself have not owned a home, but when that does happen, I would think that I would inform myself of things that would concern my overall situation before I bought a home.

 I do not think that parking regulations should be amended to allow on-street permit parking for Venn Crescent to accommodate this one resident who did not inform himself of our current parking regulations before he bought his house. As I see it, not many people require this permit parking because all of the houses on Venn Crescent except for maybe three (and two other houses that have not been lived in for years) do not have driveways or front yard parking. He did state in his letter that front yard parking is an option. I do not believe that the character of the street will be lost and I think this should be his only option.

 Once again, please also refer to my previous letter and include it with this letter to further give my reasons for not being in favour of the parking proposals stated for Venn Crescent.

 d)Shame on you! This is a plain money-grabbing method. Don=t you see unemployed people and house taxes you and your over-spending has created?

 e)Please advise me when meeting which final decision will be made will take place.

 f)All the houses on Venn Cres. have driveways and garages to park their cars.

 g)The street is too narrow to permit on-street parking. There are no sidewalks and parked cars create a hazard to pedestrians who are forced to walk on the road.

 As a resident of the north side of Venn Crescent, I am totally opposed to the above proposals before Council as it is unfair to residents on that side of the street, all for the sake of one homeowner who could have pad parking to accommodate his vehicle.

 Residents on the north side are already disadvantaged by the noise of traffic flow along Eglinton Ave. and I don=t feel that our quality of life should be further limited by having vehicles always parked in front of our houses and the additional noise they bring.

 The existing parking arrangements are more equitable to all residents. There must also be restrictions for the period December through March to allow for snow clearance which is a priority for streets with steep grades, as is the case with Venn Crescent.

 Venn Crescent is not a very wide street, being only twenty-five feet from the centre of the street to the property line which, for the most part, is also the building line since these homes were built before building setback was introduced. Increased parking and traffic flow would be noticed by all residents.

 Contrary to the information given to you by the requester, the street is not only used by residents of Venn Crescent. Vehicles travelling east on Eglinton Ave. and turning on Blackthorn will take Venn as a way of avoiding two stop lights on Eglinton. This also applies to the commercial establishments at the corner of Blackthorn and Eglinton, whom I have complained to about this practice.

 I would also like to make you aware that vehicles will park on the north side of the street towards Eglinton Ave. for the purpose of drug trading. This fact I have made known to the local police, particularly after my house was broken into and ransacked this past summer. There have also been a number of other burglaries on the street. I would, therefore, appreciate it if Council would consider enacting bylaws which improve conditions on the street and the quality of life for all residents, instead of favouring one individual who could make other arrangements.

 If you wish to have further clarification on any of the issues I have raised, I can be contacted during business hours.

 h)This on-street parking lets people rent out their rooms and small apartments. Then cars are all over the street. No parking and no renting! There used to be a law on renting as well as parking. Let=s go to the good days of the City of York, not three families per house and three cars! One family, one car and children and a white fence!