Parking anywhere near Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital can be a nightmare for drivers, but it has become one for some local residents, too.
Jeremiah Bowes lives at the corner of Mississaga and O’Brien streets, and he’s calling for more enforcement in the area.
“It’s the worst spot for parking in Orillia,” Bowes said of the stretch of O’Brien Street from Mississaga to Mary streets, where no parking is allowed on either side of the road. “Daily, there are cars parked. There’s constantly people there. It's chaos.”
Bowes has had issues with people parking on his grass and blocking his driveway while they go into the pharmacy or doctor’s office across the street.
He said he recently watched a fire truck that was en route to an emergency turn onto O’Brien Street from Mississaga Street and it had to back out because it couldn’t get by vehicles that were parked on both sides of the road.
“They’re literally blocking emergency services,” he said. “That blew me away, that they had to back out and go around.”
Bowes wants to see more bylaw enforcement and better signage, but the city feels both are adequate.
“I can confirm that parking tickets have been issued in this location in the past,” said Shawn Crawford, manager of legislative services. “In the past, the city’s municipal bylaw enforcement officers have patrolled and enforced this area regularly. However, enforcement of rules related to COVID-19 are currently the priority. Having said that, the (bylaw officers) still do enforce parking restrictions throughout the city as time permits, including this area.”
Bowes said he tried to flag down a bylaw officer on Monday to draw attention to someone who parked in the no-parking zone and the officer drove off. However, Crawford said he didn’t believe a bylaw officer had patrolled that street on Monday.
Crawford encourages residents who have concerns about illegal parking to contact the bylaw office at 705-325-2313.
