Towing firm stands by 'booting' practice in private lots despite complaints and calls for CBRM bylaw

Unauthorized parking within privately owned parking lots around the Cape Breton Regional Municipality can be an expensive price to pay if caught by a local towing company which monitors said lots 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And it’s about to get even more expensive, as of Tuesday, according the firm’s owner.

Kevin MacEachern, who operates The Two Fastest Fat Guys Towing, said he and his crew are merely doing the necessary job they were hired to do.

“I’m under contract to the private owners,” MacEachern said. “And all my lots (I look after) are clearly signed: ‘Private property. All will be booted and/or towed at the owners’ expense.’ 

“We have (our) people going in, patrolling through all of the parking lots, making sure there’s nobody breaking into the tenants’ cars, making sure that the proper vehicles are on the lots. And that’s if there’s anything there that’s not supposed to be there, those are the ones that get booted.”

Unless the owner of a parked vehicle offers some sort of designation to prove that vehicle can park in a reserved spot, “We will put a tag on the windshield telling the people that the vehicle is illegally parked,” MacEachern said. “Then my guys do another circle around … and if that vehicle parked (without authorization) is still there, then it gets booted.”

To get the boot removed, MacEachern said vehicle owners have been charged $285. Effective Tuesday, that charge goes up to $350 plus tax per boot, he said.

“If they want to start bitching about it more with my fees being too high, I’ll raise them up so it’ll deter people from parking (in privately owned lots) here,” MacEachern said. “If people don’t want to read the signs, it’s their problem. They’re taking the risk in their own hands.”

Janine Christmas found that out the hard way in mid-August when she and her daughter went for lunch at A Bite of Asia in downtown Sydney.

The Membertou resident said she parked her vehicle in what she thought was a lot connected to the restaurant.

“I didn’t see the sign that said you couldn’t park in the lot because I was dealing with some stuff and needed to have a serious conversation,” Christmas said.

“We were there for an hour. Then when we came out (of the restaurant) after that, there was a boot on my car. I thought I was parked at the A Bite of Asia lot. But, apparently, my car was parked just right over a yellow line — and I got dinged for it.”

Not only did her vehicle carry a warning sticker, but to get the boot removed, she had to pay the $285 fee.

Christmas was outraged. She accused the towing company and its owner for allegedly being, in her words, “predatory” in their actions.

“I don’t think they should be towing people away (within minutes), unless the car’s been there for like an extended period of time,” she said. “If a car’s been there for an hour two, then slap them with just a warning ticket or something. Don’t make people and their vehicles immobilized (that quickly).”

Christmas said she then contacted CBRM councillor Eldon MacDonald, whose district includes downtown Sydney, regarding the matter.

“When I get these complaints, it’s the same story: ‘I’ve been booted, I’ve been demanded cash, $285, and no receipts,’” MacDonald said during last week’s council meeting at city hall. “They don’t know each other, but there’s a problem with this particular company that’s booting vehicles (and charging them) $285. It’s consistent, consistent, consistent.”

Added District 4 Coun. Steve Gillespie, who brought forth an agenda item on the issue after receiving complaints from his constituents, “I believe private lot owners have the right to protect their property, but CBRM has an obligation to regulate and monitor services that impact our residents.”

MacDonald also referenced a Halifax Regional Municipality ‘booting’ bylaw from 2023, which says that vehicle owners caught parking in private lots would have to pay $115 plus tax (roughly $131.10) to have the boots removed.

A similar bylaw for the city of Moncton, N.B., passed in 2018, states that “no person carrying on, engaged in or operating a vehicle immobilizing business shall charge more than $45 for the combination of installation and removal of a vehicle immobilizing device.”

Meanwhile, one member of municipal staff told council they are already looking into how best to implement a vehicle booting bylaw/regulations for the booting of vehicles on private and/or public lots in the CBRM.

“We’ve been having discussions between the bylaw division and (regional) police, and we’re trying to understand who is best equipped to address this,” said Tyson Simms, CBRM’s director of planning and development.

Council voted unanimously to have the CBRM’s chief administrative officer direct staff for an issue paper on whether the municipality “should consider implementing vehicle booting bylaw/regulations for the booting of vehicles on private and/or public lots.”

However, MacEachern is warning the CBRM he’ll challenge any efforts to have the municipality regulate vehicle immobilization in private parking lots around the region.

“Council has no business whatsoever of trying to interfere,” MacEachern said. “But I want to thank the CBRM for all the publicity that this is getting. It’s non-real.”

MacEachern said his parking warnings are clearly visible at private lots such as near A Bite of Asia and the one next to a Subway franchise on Charlotte Street. Outside A Bite of Asia’s front door is a sign and map of where restaurant customers can and cannot park.

“It’s just ignorance, to be honest with you,” MacEachern said. “People think they’re privileged to park (in private lots) anywhere. No, you can’t: These lots are privately owned, the spots are all rented out to other people, and they are paying big money for these parking spots monthly.”