This story is republished from our sister blog, Yonge and Roxborough News. The recent Roxborough West unsuccessful parking application triggers a reminder that parking can be a hot and emotional issue in Toronto. Take the case of a condo building at 2 Ridelle Avenue in the Bathurst and Eglinton area that has 44 units and only 32 parking spaces. As reported by the National Post, the dispute began some years back over an Audi with flat tires in parking space number 20. A resident noticed that the car was not being driven regularly and alerted the building’s board of directors. “Please be advised that … if you wish to retain the right to rent your parking space, you are required to bring the car into good repair, insured and with active plates,” read the memo to resident Paula Couture. If Couture didn’t get the car in order, read a subsequent letter, it would be towed to “allow other deserving residents” to take the spot.
OWNED SPOT FOR 24 YEARS
Couture claimed that the spot had been hers for the past 24 years, and she retained “exclusive use of my parking spot” regardless of what was in it. The board, in turn, shot back that she had no basis to question its “exclusive authority to assign parking spaces” and advised her to seek a lawyer. To pay her maintenance fees, Couture kept cutting cheques that included her $50 a month rental fee for the disputed spot. The condo board refused to cash them and then placed liens on Couture’s unit as it went into arrears.
SHE WINS $15,623.05
It’s at this point, Ontario Superior Court Justice Frederick L. Myers noted that the dispute passed beyond anything resembling “amicable, businesslike or neighbourly” behavior. In her lawsuit against the condo board, launched in September, Couture had sought a declaration that the condo board had wrongly taken away her parking spot, monetary damages and an injunction to forever bar the condo board from treating her in a “harassing, harsh, burdensome and/or unfair manner.” Couture, however, won only the $15,623.05 she incurred as a result of the liens. The story by the NatPost’s Tristin Hoppe (subscription)
