‘It’s probably stolen’: Vehicle accumulating tickets on 124 Street amplifies safety concerns for business owners

How many tickets does it take for your vehicle to get towed in Edmonton?

Some business owners on 124 Street are expressing concern with the city’s approach to abandoned vehicles after one vehicle was parked there for more than a week.

A Nissan parked along Edmonton’s 124 Street near 104 Avenue was accumulating parking tickets on the windshield – but was not being towed.

“For that just to sit there and not move, it’s taking up a prime spot, number one, and kind of just causing a hassle for everybody,” said Wendy Lien, the owner of Maison de Noir.

Next door at Lando Gallery, co-owner Brent Luebke says he noticed the vehicle on his security cameras last Tuesday. He and his business partner phoned the city’s 311 complaint line and even contacted Edmonton police.

“When can we get this car dealt with? They said up to 20 days,” Luebke said. “I think they said business days, which is a month.”

On the City of Edmonton’s website, it states that a vehicle is considered abandoned when parked on a city street for 72 consecutive hours. Once reported, the vehicle owner is given a 72-hour notice. If it has not moved, it is ticketed and towed.

“It used to be very active,” Luebke said. “I would say a maximum of a day, maybe two, they would definitely tow. We would see the person come back and go, ‘where’s my car?’ Talk to the city impound people.”

It’s not just a prime parking spot being taken up that’s at issue for business owners. They say safety is already a problem on 124 Street, and an abandoned vehicle is only adding to their concerns.

“It’s probably stolen, that’s why it’s still here,” Luebke hypothesized. “And it attracts people to the neighbourhood that are looking for exactly this problem.”

“The safety on 124 Street is concerning,” added Lien. “As a small business owner, you know you’re always going to take that on. It is getting worse. We suspect it’s probably a vehicle that might have been stolen and abandoned here. So when those things start happening, it does snowball.

“I did have an attempted break-in, thank God that they didn’t get in, but they busted the lock and busted the window.”

CityNews reached out to the City of Edmonton Wednesday, but an official was unable to comment on that particular vehicle. By Thursday morning, businesses reported the vehicle was towed.