Drivers, stop those engines!
There were no real surprises when City Council got around to discussing the staff proposal for a new vehicle idling by-law on Monday evening. Well, Harold Usher’s changed position following the “new” information by Jay Stanford (that the majority of London drivers already idle for less than 3 minutes) was a bit unexpected. And not exactly new information for anybody that’s been paying attention.
After a prolonged discussion, Council adopted a new idling limit of 2 minutes, along with certain exemptions.
Some members of Council cited the fact that there were only 5 tickets issued under the previous by-law, concluding that any by-law at all is would only be an exercise in futility. But that rate of enforcement may simply have been the result of the fact that inspections have only been carried out by the Middlesex-London Health Unit up until now. The new by-law will also be enforced by parking officers and by-law officers in addition to the Health Unit inspectors. And that enforcement may take the form of blitzes.
Here’s some of what the presenters at the 2009/06/22 public participation meeting had to say about the issue.
First up, the Council of Canadians (London chapter):
And here’s the delegation from the city’s Advisory Committee on the Environment (ACE):
And this is the submission by Tim Hortons:
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