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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

2 comments

  1. Re “Mistaken no-parking signs leave teacher in tight (parking) spot”:

    My brother once got a speeding ticket in a school zone. Except it was actually no longer a school zone because the school had closed down. He chose to fight it in court on that basis.

    He lost. The reason the court let the ticket stand was because the wording of the bylaw was actually “speed in excess of the posted limit”, regardless of whether the posted limit was correct or not.

    (So I guess this means that if you want to speed, paint an extra zero on all the speed limit signs on your route.)

    Does the same kind of wording apply to parking tickets?

  2. Diane,
    I think there’s a difference between your brother’s situation and the situation described in the Star story you refer to. In your brother’s case, it seems that the City never got around to RESCINDING a bylaw making it a school zone. So even though there’s no longer a school zone, the restriction still applies because the bylaw is probably still in effect. In Star story, it seems like the municipality never got around to ENACTING a bylaw (though it does seem to be in the process of doing so now). Restrictions do not get their legal force from the fact that a sign is posted but from a bylaw that has been enacted.

    Regarding the story you mentioned, it’s a disgrace (not to mention stupid) that a district fire chief would tell such an outright lie to the reporter … Unfortunately, this isn’t the first instance I’ve seen of this by City officials.