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We heard your requests…W tients Dr. Vineet BhanDari BSc DIH DDS Ten minuTeS TO Oakville • FRee PaRking councillors heard from multiple residents who talked about their experi- ences being towed. Ann Hanley said she was a frequent visitor and shopper in Bronte, but not- ed this is no longer the case. She said she parked be- hind Denninger's at 2400 Lakeshore Rd. W., after hours and went to the near- by Firehall restaurant, which had a full parking lot. Hanley said she as- sumed that because nearly all the businesses in the plaza were closed the signs warning about vehicles be- ing towed did not apply. She and her young chil- dren returned 45 minutes later to discover their vehi- cle had been towed. Hanley would ultimate- ly pay a towing fee of $367. Others told similar sto- ries of parking at either the Bronte Village's Centriller Square lot or the Sobeys parking lot across the street, and then being towed when they left the property. Some said they had pa- tronized businesses at these locations before walking away to shop at other nearby stores. Bronte Business Im- provement Area (BIA) chair Cheryl Etherington said the BIA receives mul- tiple complaints from peo- ple who have been towed from these commercial parking lots on a daily ba- sis. "We are not against tow- ing for a good reason, but we are against the predato- ry nature of the towing that is happening," said Ethe- rington. "We have heard from many people that they are boycotting Bronte and they have spread the word through social media and word of mouth. Port Credit and Burlington are wel- coming our lost customers with open arms. Our mer- chants have lost thousands of dollars in business be- cause people won't come back. This is destroying our brand." Town staff emphasized private property owners have a right to remove un- authorized vehicles tres- passing on their parking lots and said a town bylaw cannot eliminate this au- thority. What the bylaw will do is restrict the amount tow truck operators can charge people whose vehicles were towed from private property. The bylaw would introduce a maximum tow- ing service charge of $250 (includes drop off and stor- age charge of vehicle with- in the same day). The bylaw says tow truck operators can have a maximum lifting charge (fee paid when a tow truck has lifted a vehicle, but the driver returns before it is moved) of $125. Vehicle storage yards will also be restricted to charging an outside stor- age fee of $70 per day and an inside storage fee of $100 per day. These storage fees only commence the day after the tow. The call-in fee to re- trieve a vehicle outside of regular business hours would be capped at $60. The bylaw will also es- tablish licensing and li- censing requirements, in- cluding police records checks for tow truck own- ers, drivers and vehicle storage yards. Other requirements in- clude: • Mandatory reporting of a tow to Halton police by the tow company • Mandatory towing to a licensed storage yard with- in the boundaries of Oak- ville • Regulated business hours for vehicle storage facilities - Monday to Fri- day • Signs posted at the en- trance of vehicle storage facilities indicating the name of the facility, a 24- hour phone number, busi- ness hours and more. • Required signage, clearly posted at all en- trances to the property fea- turing at statement that ve- hicles will be towed at own- er's risk and expense; a statement that the site is for customer parking only; a tow-away symbol/graph- ic clearly visible on each sign; the name and phone number for the towing company engaged by the private property. Signs are also required to have a minimum area of one square metre and a mini- mum height of two metres. Multiple tow-truck op- erators also spoke during the meeting. Some said it was unfair the entire industry is being punished for the actions of a few operators, while oth- ers said the real problem that needs to be fixed in Bronte is the lack of park- ing. Ward 1 Coun. Sean O'Meara stated he is hope- ful the bylaw will put a stop to predatory towing prac- tices in Oakville. The bylaw is not in ef- fect until Jan. 1, 2020 in or- der to give town staff time to prepare for licensing and enforcement. NEWS Continued from page 3 BIA CRITICAL OF PREDATORY NATURE OF TOWING VEHICLE "This policy is the utter definition of extortion." - Ann Hanley, resident towed in Bronte