Readers want to ice car-shelter bans
Poll indicates need for West Island cities to find out whether residents want changes
I’m not ready to call on bans being lifted. But I think West Island cities should inquire whether their residents want to maintain the status quo or if they would be willing to agree to exceptions.
Based on the opinion poll I launched last week, two-thirds of readers believe West Island cities should reconsider car shelters bans that have been in place for decades. Of the 765 poll clicks (as of early Tuesday), around 66 per cent said West Island cities should lift their ban, with about 34 per cent voting to continue prohibiting the unsightly temporary shelters. It should be clear this poll was open to all, so the results might not necessarily reflect the position of the majority of residents living in cities with a ban. The cities that ban shelters are Baie-D’Urfé, Beaconsfield, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Kirkland, Pointe-Claire and Senneville, while they are permitted in Dorval, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. I’ve lived in both worlds. In the 1980s, a car shelter was installed in the sloped driveway of the home I grew up in on the South Shore. Somehow, my family managed to shovel the snow from the driveway without a snow blower, snow contractor or a shelter through most of the ’60s and ’70s. Seems those really were simpler times. Our shelter’s steel frame and cover had to be replaced a few times over the decades it was in use. At one point in the ’90s, it boasted a tan-coloured tarp, which was still better than the blue shelter installed next door. The fall setup and spring take down became a family ritual, maybe even a bonding moment, although we experienced frustrations with bent poles and screws and the occasional mishap when trying to set up on a slope. When I began reporting on West Island matters in 1995 and then became a homeowner here, I was initially amused with the car-shelter ban in some cities. I reside in Pointe-Claire, which bans shelters. With the exception of one winter during which we paid for a snow-removal service, I’ve always shovelled my way out of the driveway. For years, I took pride in the fact my driveway was clear right down to the black asphalt within only a few days of a snowstorm, while neighbours who used contractors who might not have returned to remove the final centimetres of fallen snow, had partly icy or hardened snow covering their driveways. Fact is, even if Pointe-Claire lifts its ban, I don’t think I would opt for a shelter. There’s the cost factor, the installation work and the off-season storage, as well as the fact my front walkway curves into my driveway, thus requiring a side door on a potential car shelter. I’m not ready to call on bans being lifted. But I think West Island cities should inquire whether their residents want to maintain the status quo or if they would be willing to agree to exceptions, such as for sloped driveways or older homes built without a garage. Despite the poll results, if West Island city councils do decide to reconsider their bans they will certainly face some backlash. Whether it’s snobbery or good taste, I believe many residents don’t want their neighbourhoods becoming tent cities.