Neighbours of a Petrolia triplex are furious after the owner made what they say is an illegal driveway permanent.

The neighbours of the King Street apartment have been to town committees for years trying to stop the owner of the triplex from allowing residents to park on the front lawn. There is a bylaw which prohibits the move and the group of about six has been trying to get the town to enforce the rules.

Then, last Friday, a load of gravel was dropped at the site and the rutted grass was covered over to form a parking space. Lorne Collier, a next door neighbour called The Independent furious about the latest development.

A bylaw is a bylaw,” he says “if I had chickens in the backyard they wouldn’t let me get away with it.

“He’s just going ahead doing what he wants.”

But Mayor John McCharles says there is not a lot the town can do. “There is a bylaw that says you can’t park in front of your house,” concedes the mayor “however that bylaw, if you took that and enforced it, you would be in problems with about half the residences of Petrolia. A lot of people park in front of their home. The homes were structured like that.

“The bylaw, in my humble opinion, it can’t be enforced.”

McCharles says town officials may have to look at the wording of the bylaw and change it to avoid problems in the future.