Also Upset this morning! - Filing a Grievance with the City

[Nat Williams]

So today I woke up to find a nice little City of Ottawa ticket on my car. As you can probably guess, it was for parking on the road during a snow removal night.

Now why I am filing a grievance?

Because they didn't plow the road! How is it that I can get a ticket for parking where they don't plow?

I called the city and asked them what was going on, as my road has never been plowed (not even once all last winter), and the only reason I parked on it, along with at least a dozen other people was because we all know that it does not get plowed.

She told me that unfortunatley, when the ban is in effect, the city can ticket any car that is non compliant, regardless of if the road is going to be plowed. Now to me, that seems liek a pretty cheap shot. If the road isn't going to be plowed, how come I can't park on it?

The end result was that I filed a grievance with the city for not plowing my road (hey, if you are gonna fine me, at least do the damn work!). Anyways, if anyone else had this problem, please send me a pm, or file a grievance. The city needs to understand that is is not acceptable.

On another note, please feel free to pm me if your street never gets plowed (like mine), as this is also cause for concern. Remember that you are paying for this service, and I plan on notifying the city of all the areas they are missing during removal.

p.s. I also confirmed with the city that if I show up to city hall with 55$ in pennies they will accept it as payment. Sounds good to me.

[nhwott5]

well, frankly , this is 2 diffeent issues.

1- you received aticket, well you deserve it as you did break the by law. it is very clear, no parking over night on nights where more than (5 is it) cemtimeters of snow is expected? so if you parekd on the road, well you get a ticket.
2- now this is a separate issue, and one you havea valid point in complaining about, if they do not clear your road, they are in violation of service contract, you live within the city limits, you deserve the same services as others, they might not get to you first, ( most liely last as it seems not a very important street) but they need to clear it.

[jeffc]

I think if there is any snowfall over 5cm, a parking ban is in effect. as to where those people who park on the street are supposed to park, it is beyond me.

[Nat Williams]

Just to avoid some bashing, i want to be clear that if the road had been plowed I would not have had a problem with the ticket. I am specifically annoyed by being ticketed on a road that was not plowed.

Even if I was under the impression that the street was not going to be plowed, then it was and I got a ticket, I would not be annoyed, that's fair.

[MusicMan]

just do what i do and not pay it.

i think you should show up with 5500 pennies and sit there while they count everyone. dont roll it... leave em all loose

[nhwott5]

ok, but that is not the law,. the law is simple, if more than 7 cm is forcasted, you can not park on the street, has nothing to do with whether it WILL be plowed, so the ticket is assumed if snow is to come, so why not just move your car like you should.

that is what traffic tickets are, puinitive, they are ment to be. it is like a speeding ticket, what is the point, if i am speeding but am perfectly in control of my vehicle and an expert driver, shoudl i complain about it, no the law ( whether you like it or not) is clear and stated, so if you break it you pay the price, very fair


now again as for not plowing, you should follow through with your complaint, as that is a serious issue and needs attention.

[hoolio]

For the last two winters I was on-call at work for snow related issues. On one morning two winters ago, I get called out. My truck was parked in the underground parking at my building then but my girlfriend stayed over that night and had parked on the road. We checked the snowfall estimates on the weather network website around 9pm and confirmed that it would be lower than the requirement.

Anyway as I drive by her car (and the many others) parked on the street I see the ticket. Being 5am I stop in the middle of the street, get out and check the ticket to see what it's for, Winter Parking restrictions. I was confused, and angry because it was 5am and I was awake. Unfortunately for the two by-law officer girls which I ran into two minutes later on another street, they got the brunt of my anger in the form of some verbal abuse.

Apparently the city's uses environment Canada's website for the snowfall estimates to determine if the winter parking ban will be in effect that night. Of course when I checked the city's website that night there was no mention of that anywhere.

This is why I'm 100% behind you Nat. If you decide to take a 9 iron to a one of those stupid VW Golfs with "By-Law" written on the side, just give me a call and I'll attest that we were chillin at my place when the incident took place.

[nhwott5]

it is spelled out on the city site,

"
Winter overnight parking regulations
Winter overnight parking regulations are in effect throughout the city from November 15 to April 1, permitting the City to clear the way for you. This means that you cannot park on City streets between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. when a snow accumulation of 7 cm or more is forecast by Environment Canada in the Ottawa area. This includes any forecast for a range of snow of more than 7 cm, for example 5 to 10 cm. Vehicles that remain parked on the street during an overnight parking restriction will be ticketed. On-street parking permit holders are exempt from this restriction.
When Environment Canada forecasts a snow accumulation of 7 cm or more, the City automatically initiates an enforcement of winter overnight parking restrictions. To inform residents and motorists, a special advisory is issued to the local media announcing that an overnight parking restriction is in effect. All special advisories are posted online in the City's newsroom. Enforcement of winter overnight parking restrictions will continue each evening until snow clearing is completed and the City issues a special advisory indicating that the overnight parking restriction has been lifted. "

could not be clearer IMO

[mpare]

Jarred, the owner of the store is not obligated to accept your pile of pennies. He probably will accept your coins, but he is not required to do so. Subsection 8(2) of the Currency Act states (emphasis added) as follows:

(2) A payment in coins referred to in subsection (1) is a legal tender for no more than the following amounts for the following denominations of coins:
(a) forty dollars if the denomination is two dollars or greater but does not exceed ten dollars;
(b) twenty-five dollars if the denomination is one dollar;
(c) ten dollars if the denomination is ten cents or greater but less than one dollar;
(d) five dollars if the denomination is five cents; and
(e) twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent.

just do what i do and not pay it.

i think you should show up with 5500 pennies and sit there while they count everyone. dont roll it... leave em all loose

[guitarman]

p.s. I also confirmed with the city that if I show up to city hall with 55$ in pennies they will accept it as payment. Sounds good to me.

The employees are paid to be there. This will only waste your valuable time. I have also been ticketed unfairly twice in the past 3 years. I argued the first one but got no where. I just cut my losses now and pay the darn thing. Wasting my time while they count out pennies is just further adding to the punitive aspect of the ticket.

[Golfbum]

Weird law they have in Ottawa. No Parking overnight if a certain amount of snow is forecast
In my City there is no overnight parking on most streets from Nov.15 to a date in the spring (Which I can not recall as I do not have to worry about parking on my street as there is no parking allowed at anytime on my street)

I would have to say you are screwed with that ticket.

However the next snowfall you get and if the City does not plow your street I would not mess with Staff at City Hall. I would phone the Mayor's Office and talk directly to him/her. Ask them if you will receive a discount on your property taxes since the City never plows your street. Ask the Mayor if you can load the snow up in a pickup truck and dump it in the parking lot of his/her office!

[Sakuraba]

Not to be the devil's advocate, but is it possible the road was not ploughed becasue there were a bunch of cars parked on it?

[hoolio]

could not be clearer IMO

Well it wasn't there two years ago... They must have had a few people complain about it since then and smarten up because if I was to take a guess, more people use the Weather Network site to check the weather than the Environment Canada site.

[Sakuraba]

Those weather network dudes are way too optimistic.

Environment Canada's got the radar on it, can't beat the radar.

[spackler]

However the next snowfall you get and if the City does not plow your street I would not mess with Staff at City Hall. I would phone the Mayor's Office and talk directly to him/her. Ask them if you will receive a discount on your property taxes since the City never plows your street. Ask the Mayor if you can load the snow up in a pickup truck and dump it in the parking lot of his/her office!

My backyard neighbour is a former mayor. When he was in office, you should have seen the number of times the two or three connected streets got plowed during any snowstorm.

Nat, I'd send an e-mail to your councillor explaining the situation and asking for an answer. They will get back to you quickly, they like to keep their constituents (voters) happy.

[MusicMan]

ineresting.... thanks Mr. Pare

Jarred, the owner of the store is not obligated to accept your pile of pennies. He probably will accept your coins, but he is not required to do so. Subsection 8(2) of the Currency Act states (emphasis added) as follows:

(2) A payment in coins referred to in subsection (1) is a legal tender for no more than the following amounts for the following denominations of coins:
(a) forty dollars if the denomination is two dollars or greater but does not exceed ten dollars;
(b) twenty-five dollars if the denomination is one dollar;
(c) ten dollars if the denomination is ten cents or greater but less than one dollar;
(d) five dollars if the denomination is five cents; and
(e) twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent.

[Shivas Irons]

My backyard neighbour is a former mayor. When he was in office, you should have seen the number of times the two or three connected streets got plowed during any snowstorm.

LOL, spackler my parents live right near you, a couple of houses down from said mayor, and they said the exact same thing!

[Nat Williams]

ok, but that is not the law,. the law is simple, if more than 7 cm is forcasted, you can not park on the street, has nothing to do with whether it WILL be plowed, so the ticket is assumed if snow is to come, so why not just move your car like you should.

The thing that borthered me was they took the time to go out and collect the $$ but not perform the service. Also, I was perfectly happy with them neglecting my street as it meant i was also being allow to park on it (until yesterday)...the street is maybe a few hundred meters long, and everyone only goes 10km/h on it anyways ... snow removal isn't as big of a priority as parking for the residents.

As for moving the car, there isn't anywhere within a few km's to park, but we'll leave that conversation (and the problem of telling ppl not to park, then not giving them an alternative) to another day/thread...

Not to be the devil's advocate, but is it possible the road was not ploughed becasue there were a bunch of cars parked on it?

No this doesn't appear to be the case, because people only park on one side of the road on my street, and the other side (and center of the road) were not plowed.

The employees are paid to be there. This will only waste your valuable time.

Well I'm going on my lunch break, and i'm bringing my lunch. While they count, I will be happily eating my sandwich and drinking my pop. The lady @ the city of ottawa actually suggested I fight it as given the situation (no plowing for so long that the residents have actually started parking on the road) makes them look pretty badly, and it would probably get waived or reduced...but that would take too long. I'd sooner just pay it ... but if I have to pay it, they'd better clear the damn street.


---
I have already filed an official grievence for my street, and have a case # etc, and they are required to have a supervisor in that section follow up with me and explain to me why they failed to plow the road.

I have also already contacted the mayor's office and am waiting for a reply.

[Nat Williams]

The purpose of this thread (in addition to venting) was to see if others are having similar problems, as I would like to make sure that all the services we are paying for are actually being completed. Now that I think of it, pm with ANY failed public services coming from tax $$ ... I want to hear about all of them, and I want to tell Larry all about them!

[Nat Williams]

should also mention that re: going on lunch, I work right near city hall, so it's a short walk away.

[Hacker]

I woke up this morning to find the better part of my front lawn neatly removed and the chunks of sod deposited along the perimeter of my property........the freaking sidewalk plow operator was either drunk or blind because he was no where near the damn sidewalk

[nhwott5]

[quote=Nat Williams;222492]The thing that borthered me was they took the time to go out and collect the $$ but not perform the service. Also, I was perfectly happy with them neglecting my street as it meant i was also being allow to park on it (until yesterday)...the street is maybe a few hundred meters long, and everyone only goes 10km/h on it anyways ... snow removal isn't as big of a priority as parking for the residents.

As for moving the car, there isn't anywhere within a few km's to park, but we'll leave that conversation (and the problem of telling ppl not to park, then not giving them an alternative) to another day/thread...

do you not have a driveway or anything? if you have no parking associated with your house or apartment you might be eliglbe for an on street parking permit which is not subject to the same by laws.

[mpare]

Maybe you should contact the municipality and ask them when they are planning to finish constructing a golf green out of your front lawn, as you cannot imagine any other ligitimate reason for their plowing it over.

I woke up this morning to find the better part of my front lawn neatly removed and the chunks of sod deposited along the perimeter of my property........the freaking sidewalk plow operator was either drunk or blind because he was no where near the damn sidewalk

[Hank Hill]

I woke up this morning to find the better part of my front lawn neatly removed and the chunks of sod deposited along the perimeter of my property........the freaking sidewalk plow operator was either drunk or blind because he was no where near the damn sidewalk

Happened to me last year and in spring they came by with top soil and sod and re-sodded it for me, I didn't even get a chance to complain. But this was in Hull so you may not get the same treatment.

[Hank Hill]

Maybe you should contact the municipality and ask them when they are planning to finish constructing a golf green out of your front lawn, as you cannot imagine any other ligitimate reason for their plowing it over.

That, or tell them that you had a putting green on your front lawn and you expect it to be fixed

[Hacker]

That, or tell them that you had a putting green on your front lawn and you expect it to be fixed

Ahhhhh, now that's the best idea I've heard all day

[Big Shooter]

So today I woke up to find a nice little City of Ottawa ticket on my car. As you can probably guess, it was for parking on the road during a snow removal night.

Now why I am filing a grievance?

Because they didn't plow the road! How is it that I can get a ticket for parking where they don't plow?

ahhh, LIFE in a Medium-sized city....THIS would never happen in Toronto
...we would call in the Army

[jonf]

ahhh, LIFE in a Medium-sized city....THIS would never happen in Toronto
...we would call in the Army

Well, this is just no fun. You're stealing our punch lines. It's like some kind of preemptive insult strike.

[Golfbum]

I woke up this morning to find the better part of my front lawn neatly removed and the chunks of sod deposited along the perimeter of my property........the freaking sidewalk plow operator was either drunk or blind because he was no where near the damn sidewalk

This would not happen if you were not so damn lazy Scott. If you get out at 4 AM and shoveled your sidewalk off then the sidewalk plow guy/girl could see where your lawn starts and avoid doing damage Or you could buy some of those reflectors that you stick in the ground to show them where not to PLOW!!

What happened to your yard is a common thing down here in the south. Although there is less chance of it happening due to the fact the snowfalls here are less than yours.

I doubt there is any training sessions for the Plow Man, just get on that thing and drive Don't worry about the sod Scott, the City will replace that in the spring.

[Hank Hill]

Or you could buy some of those reflectors that you stick in the ground to show them where not to PLOW!!

I've given up forking out cash for those, our plowmen/women just plow on through them...