To the editor,
I have contacted HRM to obtain an exemption to the daytime no parking sign on the street in front of my residence. The answer, although politely presented, was nothing more than absurd. As the new owner of a condo in the north end, I was unaware that an HRM bylaw interdicts co-properties of more than four units from obtaining an exemption for parking on their street.
Because my wife’s and my own schedules differ substantially, we require a second car. Yet, with the rising price of gas and concerns for the environment, both she and I try to play our part: We ride our bicycle, use public transit or walk to work.
Being unable to leave the second car on this empty street during the day means one more car on the roads of Halifax. I have never seen more than two cars parked on this 25-residence street.
An HRM official had a brilliant idea: rent a space from a neighbour. It could work if the neighbour wasn’t charging $100 per month while HRM offers exemptions to non-condo residents for $30 a year. I don’t know many people that would offer a daily space on their property for $30 a year!
I am driving my car to work every day with the malignant pleasure of consuming gas: such a sickening feeling with today’s environmental reality.
By –Philippe Magown
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2008.