Vehicles towed from Kingston west end neighbourhood overnight

Following through on several warnings previously issued to residents who were not following the Winter Street Parking Ban, the City of Kingston towed several vehicles from the streets of a west-end neighbourhood on the evening of Monday, Jan. 16, 2023 and early morning of Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.

The “last resort” move came, the City said, after several attempts were made to educate residents about the overnight parking ban and other, less drastic, enforcement measures had limited effect.

Paul Chaves, City Councillor for Loyalist-Cataraqui District amplified the warning to residents on his Facebook page yesterday prior to the enforcement. “City snowplow operators have not been able to clear several streets since the last snowfall. They will be returning this evening to remove the snow from these remaining streets TONIGHT due to the forecasted freezing rain for tomorrow. The freezing rain will make it extremely difficult to remove the current snow on the streets as well as the expected snow coming later this week.”

Chaves said that, according to the City’s Public Works department, tickets had been issued to violators of the overnight street parking ban, however those measures appeared to be insufficient to allow snowplow operators to conduct their duties on certain streets.

Chaves indicated that he had been told that the towing of vehicles would likely “continue for the next few snowfalls as well.”

Despite the warnings, the City of Kingston confirmed that six vehicles were towed in the Woodhaven area overnight.

“With freezing rain in the forecast, Public Works is focused on ensuring they can effectively conduct cleanup operations. Vehicles parked on-street overnight have been one of the greatest challenges Public Works has faced this year, particularly in the Woodhaven area,” the City explained. “When vehicles are parked on the street, plows are unable to properly clean up and are sometimes unable to access streets altogether.”

According to the City, during the last snow event, there were almost 100 cars parked overnight in Woodhaven, often on both sides of the street. 

The City clarified that such enforcement actions may take place in other neighbourhoods as well. “Towing takes time so Public Works can only focus on one area in an evening and chose Woodhaven given the issues they’ve encountered there,” the City continued. “Public Works is able to tow at any time but decided to forewarn the neighbourhood and its councillor. This will not always happen, but decided it was important as this is new for the Woodhaven subdivision.”

The owner of the towed vehicle is responsible for picking up the costs of the removal. Towed vehicles may be picked up at the Ward’s Towing lot at 1887 Sydenham Road.