Mike W.Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 19/05) - A concrete barrier erected along McDonald Drive this week is a warning to residents that City Hall will no longer tolerate derelict vehicles parked along the road, says Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

On Monday, staff blocked off about 20 feet at 3529 McDonald Drive after several failed attempts this summer to convince people not to park junk cars on the side of the road. The barrier was taken down Wednesday.

"There's been a number of concerns expressed about Old Town being a touristy area, not an area for collecting vehicles that don't have registration or plates," said Van Tighem.

"There has been a long spate of tag-and-tow."

There are no signs prohibiting parking in the area, and the curb is sculpted to allow easy access, but Van Tighem said some people are taking advantage of the situation.

He wouldn't say specifically where the vehicles were coming from, although he acknowledged that there is a mechanic's garage across the street with several older vehicles parked out front.

The concrete barrier went up after the city ordered vehicles off the curb and put up portable signs. The last time the signs were erected they were found the next day at the water's edge on the Government Dock.

The only permanent "no parking" sign present in the area belongs to Bill Leard, a cabinet maker who owns a shop directly behind the 20-foot long temporary blockade.

The sign is tacked to Leard's loading door, which was blocked by the heavy barricades.

Leard, admitted to moving the city's temporary signs, but said the city blocked his business when they installed the barricades.

"I think the guys in bylaw have been sucking the lead in their bullets for too long."

"You can't access my property," said Leard.

Leard warned the mayor he would sue if the barricade didn't come down by 5 p.m., Wednesday and the city relented.

Elias Saravanja, the mechanic across the street, has used that stretch of curb as an overflow for decades.

He has since given in to city demands to remove vehicles from the curb, but said the mayor and City Hall should stick to more pressing enforcement matters.

"There's dog shit in front of my shop every freaking morning," said Saravanja.

Shovel dog-do

"He should send bylaw down with a pail and shovel to do something. They're enforcing moving the cars but they should do something to enforce moving the shit."

Many parts of Old Town are cluttered with old vehicles but resident Aleta Fowler said that's part of the neighbourhood's flavour, as well as the charm for tourists when they come to visit.

"People come down and they're looking for flavour," said Fowler.

"Our present planning practices doesn't allow that flavour. I think the city needs to think about the reality of what tourists want to see, and it's not concrete barriers."