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Resident urges Orangeville council to reconsider one-sided street parking

November 9, 2023   ·   1 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Orangeville’s decision to restrict parking to one side of a thoroughfare has presented a predicament for some homeowners.

Orangeville resident Barbara Whyton detailed concerns about one-sided street parking in a letter to town council for the Oct. 30 meeting. While her letter didn’t include a street address, her predicament is faced by homeowners of many of the town’s neighbourhoods.

Whyton and her family have lived in Orangeville since 1978. Her neighbourhood consists of semi-detached homes with single driveways.

“In all the years we have lived here, I have never heard of any issues with parking on both sides of the street,” she said.

Today, more than ever, most households have two vehicles for two working people. They also have children who drive that are home from college or university for the weekend, the holidays or over the summer or have come back home to live with their parents.

“Due to the single vehicle driveway, they need to park on the road and, for those of us on a street with semi-detached homes, there is now not enough parking available to accommodate the change in parking,” she said.

That is further complicated, she said, when municipal staff install “No Parking” signs at some turns in streets, thus eliminating spaces that could have been at least three parking spots.

Parking availability becomes an even bigger issue at Christmas and holidays, long weekends when families want to get together, birthdays, and family get-togethers during the summer, as well as for those coming to the house to provide home care.

“People shouldn’t have to walk a street or two over,” Whyton said.

Orangeville was an inviting place, she said. But the proliferation of No Parking signs gives an impression that’s changed.

“You see them along the side of the road where people maybe once or twice in the summer may park to go and cheer on their son or daughter at a baseball game or soccer game because parking spots are full at a school or park,” she said.

“[The signs] just not giving the town that same feeling of welcome and community spirit and support it once did. It’s like there was a sale on ‘No Parking’ signs.”

Whyton suggested that future subdivision developments include wider streets to accommodate street parking on both sides.

“I ask that you please reconsider the one-sided parking and return to allowing parking on both sides again,” she said.

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