Ontario man no longer allowed to park commercial van in driveway after neighbour complains

A Scarborough man has been parking his work van in his driveway for more than a decade, but after a neighbour complained, he’s been told he has to move it.

“There has been no issue parking it here since 2010 – until recently,” Jeff Hosmer told CTV News Toronto Wednesday.

Hosmer, who has lived at the property for 26 years, works for a property maintenance company and is on call 24 hours a day.

"I deal with emergency calls after hours with five different fire departments in the GTA and when something happens, I need my vehicle here to leave right away," he said.

Hosmer was served with a Notice Of Violation of Bylaw 569-2013 by the City of Toronto after a person in his neighbourhood complained that his work van, which has a company logo on it, is an eyesore.

Under Toronto bylaws a commercial vehicle can only be parked in a residential area if it is parked in an enclosed building such as a garage.

Hosmer was shocked when he was told by city officials he can no longer park the van in his driveway.

“I'm not bothering anybody, I pay my taxes and take care of my property. There are worse properties around so I don’t know why the city is bothering me,” he said

Joe Magalhaes, Director of Municipal Licensing and Standards with the City of Toronto, said “if it's used as a commercial vehicle and it's parked on a residential lot then it is not permitted."

According to the bylaw, a parking space in a residential zone can't be used for commercially licensed vehicles, construction or towing vehicles, dump trucks or vehicles equipped with more than six wheels.

The city does not actively seek out residents breaking this bylaw and said it only investigates driveway issues when someone complains.

"Granted there are people doing the same thing, but we are complaint-driven and in this case, there was a complaint,” Magalhaes said.

A homeowner could be fined up to $50,000 if they receive a notice of violation, but they can appeal to the city to seek a minor variance.

In Hosmer’s case, he's been told he can park the van in his driveway until April of this year, until he builds an enclosed structure on his property that he can park it in. If he doesn’t, the van will have to be parked somewhere else.

The city says it deals with each parking situation on a case-by-case basis and tries to be fair and reasonable. They also say they hope that neighbours can resolve these issues on their own, but the by-laws are there in case they can't.