Ribfest - Parking Ticket Fine

Typical "revenue enhancement" stunt. Not that any of the areas were being used and were PUBLIC property. Shame on whoever made the call to ticket!

This is BS if its a weekend event or whatever event should be able to park anywhere,if there not blocking anyone or someone's driveway

Toronto Ribfest is disappointed by the decision to ticket people during our community fundraiser.

First the city tried to ban any parking on city land. Which would have closed all Ribfest.. Now this move. #stupidmove #HappyCanadaDay

its very un fair that people get ticketed during an event as big as ribfest.

This is obssered. When there's an event like this there's no reason why there can't be some leway. If people didn't park on the grassy area's there wouldn't have been enough parking and the event would have lost customers.

Not good

Petty.

This is unacceptable for the toronto police to do this to people on Canada Day. Every other year people park on the grass because there is literally not enough areas to park

It's wrong to deter citizens from taking part in community events by ticketing cars.

I live in the area so I am fortunate to be able to walk to Ribfest. I am signing this petition to support those that were affected by the terrible injustice of $100 parking fines.

Really? Is this how we appreciate our citizens on Canada day celebrations?

We should all do the same, there is no way they can win this. They are now just giving fines for every reason because they know that usually people don't don't any thing about it, but we can change this.

We were at Centennial Park Ribfest on July 1st celebrating a wonderful afternoon until we arrived back to our car and found a $100 parking fine! There were well over 200 or more cars with these tags on their windshields. This is very disappointing as we have been attending Ribfest at Centennial Park for the past several years and parking on the grass has never been an issue. If there was a problem this year, than the Police should not have been letting anyone enter the park when it was full because it was causing chaos. We arrived at 1:30 and the parking lots as well as the grass area was already full. If we were not allowed this year to park on the grass , why wasn't there any NO PARKING SIGNS or police re-directing the traffic. If the Rotary Club wants to continue this annual event at Centennial which is a huge success for our community, then they should resolve this parking issue. After spending a lot of money and a great time with the family it put a damper on our Canada Day. A $100 ticket is crazy! We have been in contact with Councillor Holyday's office and they are concerned and looking into the issue.

We received a ticket as well. We already submitted our ticket to the court office to fight it.

I received a $100 fine as well. I emailed John Tory/ Rob Ford and councillor Holyday. I also went to set a date for trial today at the Parking Enforcement Office (Keele and Eglington), Here is the response from the councillors office. Good afternoon Ms. James, Thank you for your email. The Councillor is aware of the situation and is looking into further details. Our office will follow-up with you as information becomes available. Best regards, , From: Susan James Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 7:14 PM To: Councillor Holyday; Councillor Ford; Mayor Tory Subject: Ribfest Etobicoke To Whom This May Concern, As a long time resident of Etobicoke, we have frequented the Etobicoke Ribfest at Centennial Park several times. As the parking lots fill up quickly, people often park on the grass beside the parking lot. There is no impeding traffic, or damage caused, it is simply somewhere to park. Over the years this has been the standard and there were never any issues over the last several years. However today there must have been 100-200 cars parked on the grass surrounding the parking lots. Each car was ticketed and given a $100 fine, let me repeat a $100 fine! It was a festival and CANADA DAY!! There were no signs that said there was to be no parking in these areas, as this has been the accepted norm throughout the last several years. I was one of those lucky recipients of the $100 fine, and will be fighting this ridiculous ticket. I have attached two articles about this issue released by the Toronto Star and Reddit in 2014 that discusses this issue. It is not acceptable to change the rules and norms and NOT POST SIGNS and fine people on a holiday who were attending a organized event that is promoted around the city. Sincerely disappointed. Susan James

Being fined after being directed to that area one feels that it was a setup.

I find this very unfair too. At the very minimum the parking authorities and the organizers could have done a better job securing parking for the event or restricting vehicles from entering the area if no parking was available. After spending so much time in traffic, of course we all parked on the grass: first, because this is a normal practice for many outdoor events that use public space; second because police was there and allowed all the cars to enter Centennial Park road, knowing there is no regular parking available there.

Parking on the grass were ok last year. confused and frustrated. All people were direct to park back. We should all protest together, this ruins the festival spirit and doesn't look well for the Toronto police, City Hall and Rotary Etobicoke.

We should all protest together, this ruins the festival spirit and doesn't look well for the Toronto police, City Hall and Rotary Etobicoke, especially when you are visiting as a guest