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Accessible parking space issues

February 2, 2023   ·   0 Comments

On Wednesday, January 25th, 2023, I was at Elizabeth St. Medical clinic at 15 Elizabeth, waiting for my appointment at the wound clinic and the foot clinic. I wanted to handicap park parking spot because I have a walker and an oxygen tank. All three parking spots were taken so I had to park farther away from the door. As I approached the building, I noticed that two of the cars had handicap parking permits but one did not. I called the police at 1-888-310-1122 to ask that a police car be dispatched to deal with the driver without the parking permit.

When I reached the call centre, they asked for my name, how to spell it, my phone number, the spelling of my address, and then my date of birth. I wondered why they needed so much information. The dispatch on duty wanted the license plate of the car. I told the dispatch I did not know the license plate of the car. I just wanted someone to check it out and possibly issue a ticket if there was no parking permit. By the time I finished talking to the officer on duty the car driver came out, backed up and drove away.

This is at least the third time that I have reported or rather, I should say, tried to report cars that had no handicap parking sticker on display. With this type of call, it is necessary for the police to show up in a timely fashion. This has not been happening. If the police officers are going to support handicap people they need to arrive in a timely manner. I realize there are sometimes more important calls for the police to be dispatched to. In this case, the Town of Orangeville needs to step up and provide a person or a phone number where there would be immediate service. By that, I mean that a bylaw would be dispatched.

For example, the city of Brampton has a sign posted with the phone number of the bylaw officers and the police phone number is also posted for after hours. This means the public has a chance to report illegal parking all hours of the day. The town and the police need to work out a policy that supports the needs of handicap people as well as dealing with those people who did not have handicap parking stickers. I think this is something the new council should consider as part of their mandate in the new term.

Keith McKibbon

Orangeville

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