May 4, 1998
To:East York Community Council
From:Rick Tomaszewicz
Subject:3-Hour Parking Enforcement in the East York District, Ward 1
Purpose:
To report to the May 6, 1998 East York Community Council on current 3-hour parking enforcement procedures in the East
York District and to discuss various options for providing enforcement of the 3-hour parking by-law.
Source of Funds:
The proposed recommendations do not have any budgetary impact.
Recommendations:
That this report be received for information.
Background:
Councillor Case Ootes, in a letter to staff of the Works and Emergency Services Department of the East York District
requested a report to the May 6, 1998 East York Community Council on the current enforcement procedures of the 3-hour
parking by-law in response to concerns of residents of Chilton Road and Sutherland Drive.
Discussion:
3-Hour Enforcement in East York
Enforcement of the 3-hour by-law is typically requested for the following reasons:
- to encourage turnover on their street. This typically occurs during the night on non-permit streets where residents find
vehicles parked on the street directly in front of their property;
- to remove derelict vehicles;
- for aesthetic reasons. Some residents simply do not like the presence of vehicles parked on their street and request
enforcement to encourage motorists to find other on-street parking; and,
- to encourage motorists to use local parking lots rather than residential streets.
The majority of parking problems occur in the older parts of East York where off-street parking is not available for many
of the residents. Although East York does offer front yard parking permits, many residents have more than one car, simply
prefer to park on the street or cannot physically construct a front yard parking pad. The demand for on-street parking spaces
in some areas can out-strip the supply. This can be managed with permit parking or parking restrictions, however, in many
cases the majority of residents on the street do not support their introduction. It is these areas where 3-hour enforcement
requests are most prevalent.
The more recent concerns expressed by residents relate to the enforcement program administered by the Toronto Police
Service - Parking Enforcement Unit. Typically, when a complaint is registered a Parking Enforcement Officer is dispatched
to the requested street block to tag vehicles. Discussions with the Police indicate that, in order to provide equitable
enforcement action, they do not enforce specific vehicles. They are concerned that enforcing one vehicle on a block which
has many 3-hour violations could be deemed as harassment. Therefore, to be fair to all residents, the entire block and even
adjacent blocks or streets may be enforced.
Prior to the current term of Council, East York residents who wished enforcement of the 3-hour limit were instructed to
call the Councillor=s Assistant who processed the request through the appropriate Councillor according to his or her own
individual policy. This resulted in various 3-hour enforcement practices throughout East York.
The amalgamated Toronto has seen a reduction in the representation for East York from 8 part-time Councillors and 1
Mayor to 2 full-time Councillors. This concentrated enforcement requests to only 2 Offices which resulted in both
Councillors requesting that enforcement requests be sent directly to the Toronto Police Service.
Prior to 1994, all enforcement complaints were processed directly by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service. The Police
even began to pro-actively enforce the 3-hour limit in 1994. As a result of many complaints regarding the pro-active
enforcement, East York Council requested a report regarding access by Council and East York citizens to the Police with
respect to enforcement of the 3-hour parking limit.
In September, 1994, the Transportation Division, recommended that all requests for Police enforcement be forwarded to
the Complaints Administrator of the Works and Environment Department for processing. However, Council did not
endorse this recommendation, instead recommending that further discussion take place with the Metropolitan Toronto
Police Service. At this time, the local Councillors began to take enforcement requests and essentially manage the 3-hour
enforcement program. The enforcement program evolved to the point where the Councillor=s Assistant was the primary
contact for 3-hour enforcement in East York. Transportation Staff were never involved in managing the 3-hour enforcement
program.
The new system of administering enforcement eliminates the involvement of East York Councillors in handling 3-hour
violations and essentially returns the program to where it was prior to 1994. The Toronto Police Service - Parking
Enforcement Unit East, are once again the direct contact for residents requesting enforcement of the 3-hour by-law. The
new system was implemented in order to reduce Councillor involvement, streamline the process and provide an equitable
3-hour enforcement practice for all East York residents. This system is similar to the current practice in the City of
Scarborough.
The recent concerns of some residents parallel the events prior to September 1994 when staff were requested to report on
the 3-hour enforcement program.
Enforcement Programs in Other Municipalities
The following paragraphs highlight the 3-hour enforcement procedures of the former Metropolitan Toronto municipalities:
City of Etobicoke
The Transportation Department's Parking Co-Ordinator receives enforcement requests from residents, issues enforcement
requests to the Metro Police Parking Enforcement Unit, and monitors tagging statistics. Pro-active enforcement is done by
Police through Division Patrol Zones (24 zones in three Divisions are used to facilitate impartial pro-active enforcement).
Each Police Division is faxed a list of the streets in one Patrol Zone per week to be enforced. Depending on the size of the
area, enforcement is completed within 3-5 days. Statistics on the number of chalked vehicles and the number of tagged
vehicles are returned to the Parking Co-Ordinator by fax to aid in monitoring permit streets.
In conjunction with this enforcement process, daily requests are not delayed until that Zone is enforced, but are dealt with
as they are received. A special telephone number has been established in the Transportation Department for parking
enforcement requests. Residents are connected with a voice mail message, and are asked to leave their name, telephone
number and a description of the parking problem. Residents are advised that they will not be informed of Police action.
Confirmation is forwarded to the Ward Councillors only if they initiated the enforcement request. The messages are
collected each morning throughout the week by the Transportation Department. Weekend or evening requests are addressed
the next business day.
City of North York
Enforcement of the three hour by-law overnight is initiated only by resident complaint to the Transportation Department. If
complaints are made directly to the Police, the Transportation Department is informed prior to enforcement.
The Transportation Department's involvement in parking enforcement is limited. Enforcement statistics are not evaluated
as they are in the City of Etobicoke, largely because overnight permit parking is not provided in the City of North York.
Further, parking is restricted on all streets in the City of North York from 2:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. from December 1st
through March 31st to facilitate snow removal, precluding the necessity to enforce the three hour by-law.
City of Scarborough
In the few areas in the southern areas of the City, where there is a limited demand for on-street parking from residents with
little on-site parking, signed parking restrictions have been changed to allow vehicles to park for a maximum of 12 hours
without a permit. On all other streets, vehicles are controlled by the three hour by-law. Concessions are made by Police not
to tag visitor vehicles parked on the street if requested in advance by residents.
Unlike the other Metro municipalities in the City of Scarborough, all enforcement requests, including the three hour
by-law, are received solely by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Dispatch. Neither the Transportation Department nor the
Ward Councillors are informed of enforcement requests. Tagging information is provided to the Transportation Department
only upon request.
The City of Scarborough's approach to the enforcement of the three hour by-law is effective because the City does not have
overnight permit parking. The vast majority of vehicles can be parked on-site, or are accommodated by the signed
restrictions. This policy of non-interference with Police enforcement has been in effect since January 1996, and according
to Transportation staff, is working well.
The City of Toronto
All complaints or requests for enforcement are referred to and received by the Transportation Department. Once the
request is received, the Transportation Department evaluates the problem and writes a memo to the Ward Councillor
outlining the following options to deal with the issue: (i) change the parking restrictions; (ii) enforce the three-hour by-law;
or, (iii) do nothing.
Together, the Transportation Department and the Ward Councillor decide which action is most appropriate. Most often,
the parking restriction is changed to effectively deal with the problem. Enforcement of the three hour by-law is initiated
only as a "last resort". Approximately 5 enforcement requests were made to the Police in 1996.
Given the volume of parking permits issued in the City of Toronto, enforcement of the three hour by-law during the day
would cause serious problems for those who do not drive to work.
The City of York
Similar to the City of North York, three hour enforcement requests are initiated only with the consent of the Transportation
Department. If complaints are made directly to the Police, the Transportation Department is informed prior to enforcement.
Over 300 enforcement Requests were made to the Police in 1996.
Discussions with the Toronto Police Service
When the Parking Enforcement Unit receives a request for 3-hour enforcement for a specific street block, they process the
request within 24 hours and enforce the requested street block and other continuous street sections with significant on-street
parking. Requests for enforcement of specific vehicles results in enforcement of the block where the vehicle is located and
adjacent street blocks with significant on-street parking. This is done to ensure fair and equitable enforcement.
Parking Enforcement Unit staff will also enforce other parallel streets adjacent to the requested street if they are asked to
do so by residents when they are in the field tagging vehicles.
Strategies to Improve 3-hour Enforcement Action
In the long term it would be prudent to develop a comprehensive Toronto-wide enforcement procedure, sensitive to the
different communities which make up Toronto and in consultation with the Toronto Police Service.
In the short term it is necessary to discuss the current concerns of the Councillors with Parking Enforcement Unit staff in
an effort to understand each others position and responsibility.
In 1996, after a number of residents expressed concern over the number of tickets they were receiving, East York staff
invited representatives of the Parking Enforcement Unit to attend a meeting to discuss 3-hour enforcement in the East York
area. The meeting concluded with Parking Enforcement Unit staff offering to advise the Councillors office of locations
where, after attending the site, a broader range of enforcement was necessary. This provided the Councillor=s office with
advanced warning that a broader area may be enforced.
With the introduction of the new program where residents call the Police directly, there is no longer any discussion
between the Councillor=s office and the Parking Enforcement Unit personnel. It would be prudent to reestablish this
procedure as a means of providing further information to the Councillors of enforcement action in East York.
Conclusions:
Requests for 3-hour enforcement in the East York District are currently no longer processed through the Councillor=s
Offices. Rather, requests for enforcement are handled directly through the Parking Enforcement Unit - East, of the Toronto
Police Service. The Parking Enforcement Unit does not do pro-active enforcement in East York, however, when a specific
street block is requested for enforcement, staff also enforce adjacent street blocks which have significant on-street parking
occurring. This is done to ensure that enforcement is fair and equitable and to preclude perceived harassment of a single
motorist.
Councillor Ootes has requested that the issue of 3-hour enforcement be discussed at Community Council in an effort to
improve this service. To this end, he has indicated that the previous method of enforcement, through the Councillor=s
offices or the Transportation Division was effective in reducing the scope of enforcement requests and limiting the range
that Parking Enforcement staff currently enforce.
Processing enforcement requests through the Transportation Division would not reduce the scope of current Police
enforcement. In advance of any Council adopted policy or by-law, staff do not have the mandate to evaluate 3-hour
enforcement requests. We simply relay requests directly to the Police for their appropriate action. This is consistent with all
requests made by Transportation staff of the Police including requests for speeding and stop-sign obeyance. Transportation
staff only advise the Police of the location of offences.
In the past, Parking Enforcement staff have agreed to advise the Councillors Office of areas where there is significant
on-street parking occurring prior to beginning with enforcement. This allowed the Councillor to take any action they
deemed necessary to limit the scope of enforcement. The degree of involvement varied between Councillors with some
allowing all enforcement requests to proceed while others brokered which requests would be allowed to proceed.
Therefore, to reduce the scope of 3-hour enforcement, while still maintaining non pro-active enforcement, it is necessary to
have some involvement with the Councillor=s Office. This would allow Parking Enforcement staff the opportunity to
reduce the scope of enforcement in most cases. Additionally, to further improve the enforcement program, Transportation
Staff would be willing to arrange a meeting between representatives from Parking Enforcement, the local Councillors and
Transportation Staff to develop a 3-hour enforcement procedure for East York which is fair and equitable to all.
Contact Name:
Peter Bartos, P.Eng.
Transportation Engineer
East York Civic Centre 778-2225
Rick Tomaszewicz
Commissioner of Development Services, East York Civic Centre
