A pair of North Burnaby residents say they are fed up with someone leaving a “dead” vehicle on their street that is taking up a precious parking spot.
Now, I don’t know that taking up a parking spot should be considered any kind of emergency, but a “dead” vehicle is a hazard.
Angela T. says the vehicle has been sitting there for months with a flat tire and fluid leaking out of it.
“I don’t know what kind of fluid is leaking but it can’t be good,” Angela said. “We can’t have a dead car left to rot and eat up our Burnaby street’s parking. It’s not a storage yard for vehicles, it’s a public street.”
This was the same argument people used for a Brentwood-area homeowner who stores at least 10 vehicles on the same street, including vintage Cadillacs.
Another resident, Michael Z. forwarded me a letter to the City of Burnaby to have the “dead” car removed from the street.
Michael said the licence on the vehicle has expired more than a year ago.
“In response to my enquiry why no action was taken, I was told I must first submit the license number before anything would be taken,” Michael wrote. “I asked why can't they just send an officer to check out the situation, but was told that is office policy. To comply, it would be necessary for me to make a special trip to the subject site again, write down the licence number and send it back to you and I don't understand you make such a big deal for such a trivial matter. That was really an irrational policy. As a responsible citizen, I have done enough that I should not be spending more time on this matter. I believe your rational is unreasonable and your office is too rigid, inefficient and non-proactive that really disappoint the tax payers in Burnaby.”
Ouch.
Others have written in on this topic about people leaving vehicles sitting in the same spot for months or even years.
“We’ve had three unlicensed vehicles parked since 2019,” wrote one resident. “Recently removed via tow truck the weeds growing from the debris underneath were three feet tall. There was a fourth but my next door neighbour got insurance prior to and wasn’t towed.”
I have a message for people about their vehicles. A public street is not the place to just store it forever, especially if there is damage like a flat tire, leaking fluid and no licence.
Be a responsible vehicle owner and deal with it. Either get rid of the vehicle or get some insurance, fix it up and move it.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
