Newmarket resident Heidi Rybak did not imagine that teaching her 16-year-old daughter to drive could prove hazardous close to home.
Rybak said they decided to have her daughter drive to work with her G1 licence, with Rybak in the passenger seat. But coming from their Mulock Court home toward Bayview Avenue, they saw parked vehicles lined along the street to avoid paying for parking at the nearby Bayview Medical Centre on Mulock Drive.
A driver came out of the parking lot onto Mulock Court, and although Rybak said her daughter was driving slowly with right of way and stopped upon realizing what was about to happen, the other driver collided into the side of their vehicle. Rybak said the first thing the other driver said was that they could not see properly due to the cars parked on the road.
Nobody was hurt. But after getting hit just a few hundred metres from their home, Rybak said it left her daughter nervous about driving.
“We love our streets, but the implementation of paid parking has caused undue stress to many of us,” Rybak said in a presentation to town council March 18. “It’s not fair, it’s not necessary, and we should not have to feel that way in our own homes.”
The Town of Newmarket is preparing to implement no-stopping and no-parking zones in the area to address the safety concerns around the medical building. However, some residents are protesting about losing access to street parking due to the medical centre implementing paid parking last summer.
Rybak said a petition supported by residents asked for the town to implement no-parking zones, but also residential parking permits that could allow residents to still park in the area. Although she acknowledged Newmarket has no policy for it, she said it could be implemented and exists elsewhere in the Greater Toronto Area.
“We all agree we deserve the right to park on our street,” she said.
Several letter writers expressed the same concern to council.
"We are losing out on parking on our own street because of the medical building and this is not what we wanted," Sky Sapkinski-Pagniello wrote to council.
Newmarket council members expressed sympathy for the circumstances.
Ward 2 Coun. Victor Woodhouse said he understands the frustration with the paid parking, but at this point, the town has to deal with it as it stands.
“I’ve driven by there,” Woodhouse said. “It’s very hazardous if there are vehicles parked there. I’ve been told by residents at times it’s chaotic.”
As recommended by staff after a review of the area, council voted to put a no parking zone on Mulock Court, eastward from Ainsworth Drive on both sides, Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. A similar no-parking zone will be put on Ainsworth from Mulock Court to Legresley Lane. There will also be a no-stopping zone on Mulock Court, from Ainsworth to Bayview, on both street sides.
Woodhouse said the town can explore a permit system, but it will take some time to work out.
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor expanded on that, saying residents of many other streets would similarly want that permit parking, but the town would have to work out the rules rather than quickly implement it.
He said it is something municipalities in the area will need to explore with upper-government direction on allowing homes to build additional suites, but more work is necessary to get the policy right.
“This is a balanced approach to address safety right away,” Taylor said, adding that on-street parking could be examined in the long term. “We need to get it right.”
The town is also undertaking a parking review expected to come to council in 2024.
Rybak said she was pleasantly surprised by the town’s response.
”It seems as though things are working in our favour for now,” she said. “We’ll have a little bit more reassurance that they won’t have as many cars on the street.”
