Truro truck driver slapped with $233 ticket for parking rig in driveway

CTV Atlantic: Frustrated truck driver A truck driver is frustrated town council isn't removing a bylaw that will see him get a ticket for parking his large truck in his own drive

A truck driver in Truro, N.S. says he would rather sell his house and move out of town before paying a ticket for parking in his own driveway.

Martin Turpel says he has parked his rig in his driveway for 15 years and has never had a problem, until September, when he was slapped with a ticket for $233.

“Until the bylaw officer came last summer and presented me with the warning, I had no problems,” he says.

A land use bylaw makes it illegal for commercial vehicles weighing more than 3,600 kilograms to park in a residential area overnight.

Turpel says he spoke to Truro Council and they agreed to give the matter more study. However, he says he’s upset they recently decided not to amend the bylaw.

“In this case, this is my property. I pay the taxes for the services that the town provides, not to tell me what I can park in my own driveway.”

The town’s planning advisory committee recently advised council to keep the current bylaw in effect, citing concerns over safety, noise and aesthetics.

“Most of our residential zones don’t have lots that are that large that would accommodate that kind of parking, so he does have a unique situation, but the bylaw still is what it is and that’s the way it’s set up,” says Jason Fox, the town’s director of planning.

Turpel says, it’s that’s the case, he has no choice but to pack up and move out of town.

“They’re not going to change and neither am I. I’m going to stay here…the truck will be in my yard until such time as I move.”

Turpel plans to fight the ticket at a trial in July. He says he doesn’t expect to be issued anymore tickets until the matter is settled in court.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh