Otherwise known as “overpaid bureaucrats”.
Bob Klassen was issued the $60 ticket after temperatures took a dip. He says he’s a law-abiding citizen, but is forced to keep a car on the street because his driveway isn’t big enough. And when temperatures drop, he has to plug his car in or he has to jump it every day.
“The bylaw is written in such a way that there’s no actual way to run a cord to the street,” Klassen says. “I’m stuck, I’m at a loss. I have no idea where to go or what to do.”
There’s a petition here, but Regina residents are more likely get action by yelling at their city councillors – and not about cords. If that’s all they can find to do, then Regina has too many city employees.
Update. In response to some of the commentors…
Out to curb, then up & over . . . just like the old days.
One good thing about freezing temps is if you iced in your up & over stick before winter hit, it will be in really solid.
Too damn many meter men too! Bylaw enforcement is a freaking joke. During the Sobey’s strike, the buggers were out fining people for garage sale signs while the picketers could park ignoring all bylaws and litter Albert street with silly @ss signs on City property. Duplicitous pr*cks!
Trust me, every city has too many city employees
So does this mean I can go cut all my neighbours light cords running everywhere lighting up Rudolph and Santa???
The first city employee who tries to stop me from getting my vehicle started at 6 AM when I am going to work…welll
We even have a new “bylaws officer” in Delisle. (Population 1000)
I was getting an oil change at the local garage. The mayor happens to own the business. I asked her, “So, how come we’re now paying a guy to deliver phone calls for Mark?”
They’ve effectively hired someone to do what used to be taken care of by a simple phone call from the town administrator.
Bob – what if someone came along wearing the cleats many use so they don’t slip on ice and step through your electic cord?
Widen your driveway and quit your bitching. Your cord creates a potential hazzard that could be very dangerous. You deserved the ticket.
The Regina bylaw reads;
Cord Across the Sidewalk
68. (1) No person shall place or leave any cord or cable across, above, or on any public
highway or sidewalk.
(2) No person shall allow any cord or cable left across, above, or on any public highway
or sidewalk to be attached to their vehicle while that vehicle is parked on a street.
“Up and over” is still illegal, which is why this bylaw needs amending, to give those without off street parking some sort of option.
Well, Regina needs to elect a “Rob Ford” as mayor. Did you see the childish performance of one of the council women in TO when she couldn’t get her “free” coffee anymore.
Here is a link to the City of Regina bylaw:
http://www.regina.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=216
Here’s a question:
Metered Parking Restrictions
38. (1) No person shall park a vehicle in a metered parking stall:
(a) subject to section 39, for any period of time while the parking meter for that parking stall shows “violation” or “time expired”;
(b) subject to section 40, for a period of time exceeding the maximum time
allowed on the meter;
(c) for longer than two hours on any Saturday;
(d) on the same side of the street in the same block where the vehicle was parked at a metered parking stall in the previous hour;
(e) for a period of time exceeding two hours unless otherwise limited by a sign;
(f) where a white City parking meter bag has been placed over the parking
meter for that parking stall; (g) except wholly within the metered parking stall; or
(h) more than two metres from the nearest meter pole.
According to the rules above, once the meter expires, the registered owner of the car has to move the car to the OPPOSITE side of the street, and at least one block away from the previous parking stall.
Yet, ‘Mary Christmas’ (an employee hired by a nonprofit orgnaization) can go around Regina plugging expired meters, but when I do it as a courtesy to my fellow citizens, I get a ticket?
This one smells, and not like roses.
His driveway isn’t big enough for his car? Then it ain’t a driveway, those are called walkways.
“Trust me, every city has too many city employees”
What’s orange & sleeps 8?
City of Public Works truck
I’m sorry but if a persons vehicle will not start after one night not plugged in, they have maintenance issues. My truck stayed outside not plugged in for a week, and it started just fine.
Not saying that the city is fully justified, but come on, maintain your vehicle!
Battery, alternator, starter or starter wiring, fuel filter, plugs and wires, and maybe even the air filter could all be looked at.
Synthetic oil (0w20 or 5w20) would work wonders as well. Most modern engines will run fine on this weight oil. In fact most new vehicles come with 5w20 nowadays, my 2010 F150 came factory equipped with it.
mr klassen:
1 widen your driveway. Ive done it twice. it’s called doing work
2 how about under the sidewalk? with code approved wire and a GFCI O/L curb side put an on/off switch on it for fun.
3 go on a cruise in the wee hours and report offenders. weigh down bylaw enforcement and demand action. recruit your friends.
4(a.k.a. 1b) widen the fcukin’ driveway or get a smaller car.
5 move to a house with a heated garage
6 let the fines pile up all the while driving and parking where and when you please. it’s the right wing ‘dont tread on me’ way.
7 etc etc
I’ll bet a Smart Car would fit in his driveway.
@Fred:
According to City of Regina Bylaw 9900, your statement that using an ‘up and over’ device would escape a fine has been proven false. According to the same City of Regina bylaw 9900 article 93, you have made a false statement.
False Statement
93. No person shall in any verbal information, report or document for purposes of this Bylaw,
make a statement false in any material particular.
You are hereby required to make a court appearance to be further dealt with by the city solicitor. How do you plead?
I find it incredulous that Regina would fine a guy for plugging in his car — particularly as every government building has a parking lot with pug-in posts for every parking stall. Unreal!
A 0W grade synthetic or semi-synthetic works great. Used to have a GMC diesel, with 0W40 it would start easily after being parked overnight at -43, without being plugged in.
They have a deal that you can buy or make for a about $10.00 that allows the cord to go overhead above the sidewalk. In our jurisdiction, the city cleans the sidewalks with self propelled blowers. Can you imagine having to stop every two mins, to move cords.
Better yet. Buy a Ford, fill the crankcase with 0-W20, make sure your battery is up, and you don’t need to stinking block heater.
How about finding out who complained (likely already known) and cause her/him some grief, and call it even.
Lefties have infiltrated and staffed low level government everywhere, we are toast.
Yeah, some more info is needed cause this story just doesn’t sound right. If his vehicle has to be jumped if not plugged in overnight then he needs to get some maintenance done – batter, starter, alternator, whatever. That’s just lazy. Hell, it’s not even cold yet.
And how does his vehicle ‘not fit’ on his driveway? What else is on it, or is he driving a stretch limosine?
I agree with the “Up and Over” of Fred – always worked elsewhere but Regina is “Special”. Too many politicians and city unionized employees.
Cords laying across a Sidewalk often made me think twice about using my Snowblower (when it would start) on the Sidewalks of Neighbors as it made damn fine work on electrical cords.
Do you think he’ll ever buy one of those new marvels, an electric car?
I suspect that had a city plow clearing the sidewalk caught the cord and snapped it, or yanked it from the car and busted the grille or some other part of the car, Mr Klassen would be after the city for damages.
So the way the bylaw is worded, the cord can’t be across, above or on the sidewalk.
Easy solution, but it’s a job for the summer – use a masonry saw and cut a groove in the sidewalk. Run your lawnmower for the sound and have a couple friends stand around to block the area while you do it. Embed a short extension cord (so it only extends a few inches each side of the sidewalk and the ends can be buried in the summer), then fill the trench with grout cement. Lay some thin plywood over it while it dries. Do a good job and it’ll never be noticed.
As I remember Regina the City didn’t clean sidewalks. The City of Saskatoon doesn’t either even in places like schools. Your neighbour knows whether you have a cord or not before they are blowing your share of GW.
One of my neighbours has three cords run across the sidewalk. Pedestrians just walk on the other side of the street.
As far as a tripping hazard I weave like a drunk on the uneveness of some sidewalks.
It appears the city website doesn’t know how to spell, shouldn’t it be “Major Fiasco” not Mayor Fiacco?
Lickmuffin @12:41:
“…city plow clearing the sidewalk…” Can you imagine how funny that it?
he should knit his car a wooly sweater and see if that helps, and perhaps try a giant hot water bottle!
Nick wrote: Can you imagine how funny that [is]?
I agree that I would find it pretty frickin’ hilarious: a city plow coming down the sidewalk, snagging the cord, and ripping the grille right off the car, and maybe even popping the block heater out of the block. Dad-gum, that’s entertainment right there!
What? Don’t you guys get your sidewalks cleaned? I live in the middle of Bumf*ck Nowhere, Ontario, and my small town clears our sidewalks. They do a good and timely job of it, too. It’s not unusual for the road and sidewalk plows to go by a couple of times during a heavy snowfall.
I have little patience for wankers who obstruct sidewalks with vehicles or, in this case, tripping hazards.
I agree that Mr Klassen should not have gotten a ticket — he should have been asked him to remove the cord. But the city is correct about the problem: it’s a hazard. In my town, it would indeed pose a problem.
I like the suggestions here, though, that he should damage public property to run an extension cord under the sidewalk. Am surprised that nobody has suggested that he run the cord to a plug at his neighbor’s place to throw the cord-enforcers off the trail.
Sorry, I don’t get it – didn’t it say in the article that this was acted on because of a complaint? The issue isn’t with the city etc, it’s with the guy’s neighbours or other people that are walking on the sidewalk who made the complaint.
Yes, in the real world, we can ignore things like cords over sidewalks – but alternative solutions are probably better.
Re the up and over thing – who cares if it breaks bylaws, it’s safer, and likely nobody will complain (unless they don’t like the asthetic look of it, which is a whole ‘nuther thing). If they do complain – they need to get a life. You can’t argue safety re tripping etc.
I honestly can’t get too excited about this story.
As did many commenters, I will have to side with the City on this one. If one can’t understand the rationale of the no-cord-accross bylaw, maybe it’s their brains they should jump.
I have to disagree – I used to live on a street where there was a lot of extension cords over sidewalks – and in spite of owners claiming no one would be injured, that is not always the case. Mr. Klassen might be careful and ensure his cord is laying flat, etc., but who says it will stay that way or that others will be so careful.
And given that people are so ready to sue, the City would be on the hook for huge liabilities. My solution is for these homeowners provide the City with a legal wavier for any and all damages if someone stumbles/trips over a cord. However I suspect that the homeowner’s insurance company might want the homeowner to pay a higher premium, but that might the cost you pay for buying a house without room to park two cars.
I lived the majority of my years in Regina, I doubt this bylaw was brought in under the current council nor with Mayor Pat Fiacco. It sounds like something from NDP Mayor Henry Baker, who was Mayor for all the years but 3 from 1959 – 1979. I can see it being a legitimate concern if sidewalk clearing was done by the little tractors with push scoops in front, but that’s quite rare in residential areas in most cities nowadays.
I’ve seen quite a few of the electrical cords strung from overhanging trees and from 2×4 jigs made for this purpose. The bylaw prohibiting this is simply to enforce the idea of government as all seeing, all reaching into your life. It doesn’t affect anyone when done correctly and shouldn’t be of any concern of the municipal government. Aside from the need to penalize all that is not approved by them.
The argument of not having a car worthy of driving in the prairie winters is just like the government telling you, you need to bring your car into the government service centre to see if it’s “winter worthy” when in fact, it’s really none of your business, and at the root of the government’s problem of wanting to see into all aspects of your life.
The temperature in Regina has dipped down in november to the low -20 and -30 range at night. It’s not Toronto cold, it was real cold, and I never use the bogus “wind chill” cold.
My dad used to have the cord hanging from the tree across a sidewalk, and then it was plugged into a GFI at the front of the house. I don’t recall him getting fined for this, although he was fined once for parking in front of his own driveway… I imagine the “approval process” or permit to ensure your electrical cord hung from a tree or 2×4 rig will be in the $100. range. You’ll need to arrange an inspection and all that.
more government shakedown, it’s all for your benefit and safety.
Lickmuffin @ 2:18:
You may live in Bumf*ck Nowhere, but Regina is socialist heaven. Can’t afford to pay huge salaries and benefits packages for city employees AND get the sidewalks cleaned. Can’t even get most residential streets plowed at all. Better to wait for Spring when the city workers are back from their winter vacations. The city’s latest euphemism for the half-a**ed job they do of plowing is “shaving” the streets! No kidding. Meanwhile, taxes increase every year. It’s those COLA clauses, don’t you know.
Bob – what if someone came along wearing the cleats many use so they don’t slip on ice and step through your electic cord?
Widen your driveway and quit your bitching. Your cord creates a potential hazzard that could be very dangerous. You deserved the ticket.
a) It’s been plenty cold enough to require block heaters already this winter.
b) I don’t know where this guy lives, but some of the lots in Regina are so narrow you’d be hard pressed to get a driveway in at all, much less a two car drive. Especially if there are trees.
c) Neither city does much in the way of snow removal in residential areas. Thus it’s pretty rich to cite civic concerns about the safety of pedestrians who are already taking their &^*#%^!! lives in their &^*#%^!! hands crossing the &^*#%^!! streets.
d) If you don’t have the mental wherewithall to watch where you’re walking on a public sidewalk then sooner or later something’s going to bring you down. It may as well be an electrical cord teaching you that lesson as a patch of ice or a banana peel.
These arguments about the city cleaning the sidewalks are designed to make me laugh. right?
This _is_ the same city that has a
bylaw forcing businesses and homeowners to clean the sidewalks in front of their locations. (and adjacent if vacant)
In other words, the City isn’t going to do it for you but if you choose not to do it for them you’re fined.
That’s funny because my vehicles have never “required” a block heater. But it is a good idea.
Again maintenance is key, if a car won’t start due to not being plugged in overnight, there’s underlying issues.
Oh, good grief, Allan. Even if a vehicle decides to start at -35C, it’s freaking hard on them. And living in a rural area, I never want to be at the mercy of my 12 year old truck’s good intentions.
So you can’t let your car run to warm it up due to globull warming,you can’t plug your block heater in cause some people have a hard time negotiating the obstacle that is a cord?Here in Vancouver we have HOV lanes that sit empty while traffic gridlock occurs daily,oh please please,more regulations please.
Allan, the underlying issue, is government control of all aspects of our lives… and that this is said to be done, “for your protection”.
and what grates me further, is that the current Mayor isn’t really seen as left of center, but actually business friendly. Some day when the pendulum swings backward (left, as if you didn’t know what I meant by “backward”) it’s really gonna suck to be stuck there.
Yeah. Let’s repeal all the bylaws, especially the ones that deal with safety issues. Otherwise, those friggin commies will keep controlling our lives with the help of their bureaucrats. Gee.
It isn’t a matter of stopping at red lights.
Allan, having worked in the automotive service industry for over 25 years, I have to say.
Thank you for the business.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
Hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new land,
To fight the horde, sing and cry: Valhalla, I am coming!
On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore,
Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are young overlords.
On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.
So now you’d better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing.
ICE , SNOW …an BLOCK HEATER CHORDS!!
Get used to it councillors, and pedestrians.
So if I get a ticket for parking in front of a fire hydrant in my street, I should whine at SDA and argue that I have never seen any fire in this area and they just want to control my life. Now we make a lot of sense don’t we.
I well remember rushing to get the bus many years ago and almost wiping out as I tripped over some idiot’s cord laid right across the sidewalk and invisible under the night’s snowfall. I really hoped then (and still do now) that the jerk I gave the cord as I recovered my balance unplugged the car sufficiently that the block heater wouldn’t work.
Our car is also parked on the street. We have a home-made contraption made of old water pipe (L-shaped) which lifts the cord well above the sidewalk. A small hole was drilled into the dirt at the house side of the sidewalk anchors the contraption. Voila – our car’s block heater (and, therefore, our car) are happy, and there is no hazard to a passerby.
Just one problem. The cord runs from the house outdoor socket across our lawn to the contraption. And where does our postie walk? Right across the lawn and – we hope – over the cord.