Etobicoke light standard looks ready to topple
When a lamp post is leaning as badly as the Tower of Pisa, it needs to be fixed right away.
But when it’s in a shopping centre parking lot, finding someone to fix it is not so easy, as Peter Rozanec found out when he took an interest in the problem.
Rozanec sent us an email outlining his efforts to get something done about it, which illustrates his frustration in trying to prod the city into addressing a problem on private property.
His email included a startling photo of the base of a light standard in the parking lot of a shopping plaza at North Queen St. and the Queensway in Etobicoke.
Two of the bolts that hold the 10metre-tall standard to its concrete base have been torn loose, allowing it to lean over far enough that it looks like it could topple, if given a push.
“Is the City of Toronto and the mall landlord waiting for someone to get killed by this damaged pole?” he asked. “The area has not even been blocked off to protect the public.”
Rozanec exchanged notes with Toronto Hydro, which is responsible for city street lighting, and staff in Mayor John Tory’s office, but was told there was nothing they could do, since it is on private property.
He raised a good point in his email: “The owner is a large corporation, and who specifically would I contact there? Why would they care what an average citizen might have to say?
“This entire experience . . . demonstrates the futility of helping prevent a serious problem for a fellow citizen. This light post may easily collapse in the next storm, or even spontaneously.
“In the end, I had to write over a dozen responses and spend over an hour, when one call or email should have been enough. Clearly explains why a lot of good citizens want to look the other way and not get involved.”
We went there and found a post with no light on top, which looks like it was backed into by a truck and wouldn’t take much of a push to fall. Status: We figured it was a bylaw compliance issue, so we called Kim Killburn, area manager of Municipal Licensing and Standards.
Killburn checked it out on her computer and found that one of her inspectors had looked into it this week, probably because Rozanec’s complaint was forwarded from Tory’s office. The inspector is tracking down the property owner and will issue a compliance order under the property standards maintenance bylaw, she said.
While the bylaw “doesn’t prescribe a remedy, we tell them that something’s gone wrong and they need to right it” within a defined time period. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in the GTA, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer, call 416-869-4823, email jlakey@thestar.ca.