Brandon Mckenny-Somerville can breathe easy again, now that his car has been returned to him safe and sound.
As ThoroldToday reported, Mckenny-Somerville’s car was towed without warning, after the Thorold by-law department reported it for creating an unsafe situation by encroaching on a neighbour’s driveway.
The tow had a devastating effect on Mckenny-Somerville’s life as he was looking for work at the time. Without a resolution in sight, he took his case to Thorold City Council where councillors were sympathetic to his plight.
“I completely understand when a driveway is being completely blocked but in this case I’m a little weary to believe that the neighbour couldn’t get in or out,” said Councillor Tim O’Hare, at the time.
While the car was parked along a small patch of grass between the two houses, its rear encroached a few inches on the neighbour’s driveway.
After listening to Mckenny-Somerville's plea, councillors unanimously voted to have the city try and get the car back — even though there were worries that the car would be scrapped already.
Luckily, as soon as Joe Vieira — who owns Regional Towing — heard what had happened he got in touch with Mckenny-Somerville.
“While we are directed by Thorold by-law on what vehicles must be towed, we also handle each tow on a case by case basis,” Vieira wrote to ThoroldToday.
Vieira said that reading the story on ThoroldToday prompted him to investigate the matter further.
“We don’t want anyone to face undue hardships,” he wrote. “Having said that, I do have to respond when Thorold by-law calls. Often is the case we don’t know the reason why the vehicle is being towed. We just get the tow order.”
But Vieira wanted to make the situation right and this week he did, when Mckenny-Somerville was finally reunited with his car.
"It was a little weird how it did end up working out actually," Mckenny-Somerville tells ThoroldToday. "It just seems like city staff could have called the tow company afterwards and just talked to them. I'm not too sure why it took them so long. It's not on the tow company because the tow company just gets the contract. When by-law calls them and says, 'Tow this car,' they can't say no."
In spite of the hardships caused by the tow, Mckenny-Somerville says that the affair has been strangely inspiring.
"This whole situation just makes me want to volunteer, or maybe get involved in politics locally," he says. "It was interesting to go to council, see how things work and that there are a lot of councillors who genuinely do want to make the community better."
Mckenny-Somerville specifically singles out Councillors Carmen DeRose and Henry D'Angela for personally trying to help resolve the issue behind-the-scenes.
While Mckenny-Somerville now has his car back, he is no hurry to park it back in the same old spot on Natalie Court.
"We're going to keep it at my parents house for the winter, just to not cause any trouble with the by-law," he says.
