TORONTO -- The father of a girl with cerebral palsy is in a standoff with the City of Windsor in southern Ontario over a tent in his driveway he says is needed to keep his daughter out of the elements as she’s transferred in and out of a wheelchair-accessible van.

Steven Levesque has been told by a bylaw officer that the large carport-style tent has to come down.

“I just couldn’t believe (it), I was dumbfounded that they were requiring me to remove it. It’s for the safety and quality of life for my daughter.”

A deadline of Dec. 5 was imposed but the father told CTV’s Your Morning Wednesday that he doesn’t intend to take the tent down because it will keep her wheelchair out of snow and slush and protect his daughter from the elements.

Levesque’s 14-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He says there are times his daughter refuses to go into the house and can be outside for 45 minutes.

“Then she decides to throw herself on the floor, she decides to sit and scream and throw a fit and until she’s ready, I have to leave her outside. I can’t physically pick her up to bring her in the house.”

Levesque says a bylaw notice appeared on his door the day after he put up the tent. He says the bylaw officer was sympathetic but offered no alternative.

He says he wants to comply and has inquired with municipal officials about getting a variance or a building permit, but hasn’t heard back.

“I’ve asked the bylaw officer and he says, ‘Well, my heart goes out to you, but there is nothing I can do.’”

Windsor’s bylaws prohibit carport tents in front yards.

The city provided this response to Your Morning: “When it comes to compliance with non-safety related by-law prohibitions, this can often be achieved without the need for an order when the property owner and by-law officer find an alternative solution. For instance, locating a structure to a backyard instead of the front and reworking an existing approved space for parking could be a solution in some cases.”

Levesque says with less than four feet on either side of the house, there is no chance of getting a vehicle into the backyard. He says the bylaw infringes on his daughter’s rights to be accommodated as a person with a disability.

Levesque believes it was a neighbour who complained. He says his yard was a “mess for a little bit in the summer because we had a lot of equipment from our diner that closed due to COVID. And it was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back that they just had enough and they decided they would just start to file complaints on us.”

Levesque says he understands that if he doesn’t comply with a municipal order, the matter will go before the courts and a judge would impose a penalty. With delays related to COVID-19, that could take up to 90 days and Levesque says that would be enough time for warmer weather to arrive.