Dear Editor:
I have a story about the bylaws adopted by town council in the Town of Osoyoos, or maybe I should say the “sometimes bylaws” in the Town of Osoyoos.
I live on 115th Street.
There is apparently a bylaw about not being able to park tractor trailers (semis) or Recreational Vehicles (RVs) on any of the streets of Osoyoos for anymore than two hours.
Several times this past winter I reported to the Town of Osoyoos that there were some semi trucks and trailers parked on the side of the road, often for days, making it difficult to walk by.
When we had some snow and the snow piled on the side of the road, it made getting around these illegally parked vehicles much worse.
The traffic coming along the street could not see around the units without going out into the middle of the street into oncoming traffic.
The town finally sent a bylaw officer around after several complaints and finally the trucking company did move the trucks and trailers.
That was then and the problem has returned as there has been a semi truck and trailer parked on 115th Street in the same spot for a month and it has never moved.
There have been complaints about it parked there, but it is still there when I wrote this letter.
The name on the truck is as plain as day to see and the owner is clearly from Oliver.
I would really like to know why he can’t park this vehicle in his own yard – or in his own town for that matter.
Where is the town’s bylaw officer to ticket this truck?
Can the fine not be put on his license or on his insurance?
A few years ago, some of us who live on 115th Street tried to park our RVs on the street overnight until we were ready to go camping.
Guess what? We were ticketed and told we cannot park for any more than two hours on the street.
No wonder I’m having such a difficult time trying to understand why this truck has been allowed to park there for over a month and we – who pay big taxes to the town – can`t park our RVs on the street.
We can’t help but think that maybe the bylaw officer is turning a blind eye to this.
What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander.
My neighbours and I would like to know how much our bylaw officers are being paid and where is he or she most of the time.
How come there aren’t any parking signs put up anywhere or a curb to discourage these large vehicles from parking on our street?
What would be even nicer is that a sidewalk be built for those of us who walk along 115th Street because there are a lot of us who walk along this busy street.
Maybe our bylaw officers should be fined for not doing there jobs as I’ve read about people complaining about the different bylaws in our town not being enforced.
Thank you for allowing me to write about this.
Carol Vlahovic
Osoyoos. B.C.
