Isn't Susan Eagle a United Church Minister?

Parking fight gathers ammunition JONATHAN SHER, Free Press Reporter   2004-09-06 03:39:41   Residents near Riverside United Church say their safety has been put at risk by a city council decision that permits Sunday parking to impede ambulances and firetrucks. The residents, whose efforts to restrict Sunday parking to one side of the street were rebuffed by council in May, have gathered letters of support from a paramedic and a firefighter and a petition signed by everyone in the neighbourhood save one -- a United Church minister. Council will consider their request at a meeting tomorrow, but because it was defeated in May, the measure must be passed by two-thirds of council. Rev. Philip Newman opposes the restriction, saying it would force people to park farther away, prompting some to attend another church rather than joining the Riverside congregation, which needs new members to replace those who move away or die. That rationale rang hollow with 90-year-old Jack Smith, who is sympathetic enough to the church to allow congregants to park in his driveway. "Why some of those jokers can't walk two blocks on pavement is beyond me. I'm going to be 91 on the 17th and I walk 18 holes of golf every day." On Sundays in winter, when snow banks extend onto the street, vehicles parking on both sides of the street leave barely enough room for a car to drive through and not enough for an ambulance or fire truck, residents said. "The bottom line is we want to get a fire engine through or an ambulance and you can't," said John Vanderhoeven. In an e-mail this summer, assistant fire chief John Marshall, who inspected the neighbourhood, recommended restricting parking to one side of the street. "We would find it very dicey . . . even in the summer to negotiate around and through cars . . . let alone the winter months," Marshall wrote. Residents believe fire Chief John Korbarda wrote of similar concerns July 20 to councillors Judy Bryant and Susan Eagle, both of whom opposed restrictions. Neither councillor could be reached for comment. Chris Darby, duty manager at Thames EMS, the city's paramedic service, also expressed support for parking restrictions on the curved section of Sherene Terrace in an e-mail to a resident Aug. 25. "If the city were to prohibit parking on either side of the street . . . it would solve the problem," he wrote. Friction between the church and neighbourhood over parking extends back decades. Motorists continue to block driveways, residents say. Neighbours say the church brought on parking problems, choosing not to buy an available, adjacent property or pay to create diagonal parking. Newman said churchgoers believed the projects weren't affordable. Newman also said the church, not the city, should monitor parking to protect neighbours. Council was asked by both city staff and the environment and transportation committee in May to restrict parking. Staff, which said it couldn't restrict parking only on Sundays, recommended banning parking all week on the west side of Dunedin Street from Riverside Drive to Warren Road and on the north and east side of Sherene Terrace that curls onto Dunedin. Instead council restricted parking Monday through Saturday even though the only concern had been parking Sunday mornings. "That was a joke," said resident Roger Meadows, who spearheaded the recent petition that collected 277 signatures. Copyright © The London Free Press 2004