City plays favourites, firm says
Airport parking business owner says rival allowed signs on city property
A local businessman can’t understand why city council would agree to give his main competitor the sole right to put up signs on city property.
“It’s not fair, obviously. Anybody can see that,” says Kim Hume.
Hume owns AutoParc n Jet, a year-old Ottawa-based company that offers long-term parking with shuttle services to the airport. Hume was stunned that council voted Wednesday to allow his major rival — Park’N Fly — to put up signs on city rights-of-way directing drivers to his competitor’s location.
“If you’re going to go that route, then open it up to everybody, because that is fair,” said Hume. “And if the city says ‘no signs,’ I don’t have a problem with that. But if they yes to signs for a competitor, then I have a problem with that.”
For the past 17 years, Park’N Fly — a chain-company offering private parking at airports across the country — has had signs directing drivers to its operations posted on city property. Under the city’s rules, companies are not allowed to place advertisements on city rights-of-way. Park’N Fly’s general manager Bill Ayyad contends that the former regional council approved the old signs, but neither Park’N Fly nor the municipality can find any record of such an agreement.
The city removed the signs last spring, after a number of complaints from Mark Laroche, CEO of Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport Authority, who argued the signs were illegal and were unfairly competing with the airport’s parking business.
When city bylaw officers informed Park’N Fly that its signs had to come down, Ayyad said he emailed Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans — who represents the area where Park’N Fly is located — to look into the matter.
But at Wednesday’s council meeting, it was River Coun. Riley Brockington who moved a motion — seconded by Deans — to reinstate seven signs for Park’N Fly on city property temporarily until the city could conduct a review of the sign bylaw. Only Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper voted against erecting the signs.
Brockington and Deans argued that removing the Park’N Fly signs could cause people to drive in confusion around the surrounding community. However, Brockington admitted his office has received no such complaints.
Hume says he doesn’t buy Brockington’s argument.
“The argument that you’re going to have traffic coming through the neighbourhoods — that comment alone was a stretch on his part,” said Hume. With printable directions off the company’s website and GPS in cars, Hume said, he was skeptical that many drivers would get lost without signs on city property.
But his main beef is that city council appears to be helping his competitor.
“Why should this one company be allowed to put signage up on city property?” asked Hume.
Section 106 of the Municipal Act forbids cities from giving a bonus to a “commercial enterprise,” which includes “giving or lending any property of the municipality, including money.”
In an emailed statement, city solicitor Rick O’Connor referred to previous case law that suggests a bonus is “one that is undue … providing a party with an unmerited windfall.”
O’Connor said that, in the city’s view, council’s decision to erect the Park’N Fly temporarily “cannot be seen as an ‘unmerited windfall’ falling within the prohibition in the statute.”
Ayyad said that his company “provides a public service.”
When pressed on the statement — Park’N Fly is for-profit enterprise owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing — he explained “We’re a private service to the public.”
The airport also had some parking signs on city property that contravened the municipality’s sign rules, but Laroche had the airport signs taken down on Tuesday.
“And they will not go back up,” said Laroche. “We play by the rules and expect others to do also.”
It’s not fair, obviously. Anybody can see that. … Why should this one company be allowed to put signage up on city property?