Video – $175 Littering Ticket Leaves Cobourg Business Owner Furious

Pete Fisher
1 hour ago
• Categories: Local

A Cobourg business owner says he was stunned after receiving a $175 ticket for littering Thursday morning — after he says he moved garbage that was not his from outside his business to the sidewalk by Victoria Park so it could be collected.

Tim Horgan, owner of ZAP Records at the corner of King Street East and McGill Street, says he arrived at his store shortly before 11 a.m. on August 20 and began his usual routine of checking the property and cleaning up garbage.

Horgan says he found garbage around his property and a tent in the rear stairwell of the building.

“I picked up the garbage and I moved it over to the park because I know at least bylaw or someone is going to come and pick the garbage up,” Horgan said.

He says a security guard was in Victoria Park at the time, and he placed the garbage beside the guard.

“The security guy was there and I put it down beside him and he didn’t say a word,” he said.

Approximately 15 minutes later, Horgan says a municipal bylaw officer arrived with the security employee and issued him a $175 ticket for littering.

Horgan says the ticket was particularly frustrating because, in his view, the garbage he moved was not his and there were much larger problems happening immediately outside his business.

“There was all kinds of chaos going on on the corner 100 feet that way and junk in front of my store that did not belong to me, which I believe is under bylaw’s jurisdiction to deal with,” he said. “So, I told them that they should be dealing with that and not myself.”

Horgan says he intends to fight the ticket.

“Oh, I’m going to fight it,” he said.

The incident comes as concerns continue to be raised about activity in and around Victoria Park and the King Street East area.

Horgan says his business has witnessed a wide range of problems over the past several years, including garbage, assaults and drug use.

“We see a lot of this — just garbage in general, craziness, assaults, drug use,” he said. “Obviously, everyone knows this. You name it, we’ve seen it in the past couple of years.”

He says the situation has also affected his business.

“It’s not easy,” Horgan said. “You definitely hear from people that they will not come around. It does not help business. We know that.”

Horgan says there has been an increased presence of bylaw officers, police and other officials in the area over the past three or four weeks.

However, he says the impact has often been temporary.

“It might be good for an hour or two hours, but then four hours later there’s another 20 people in the park,” he said.

Horgan says he believes more enforcement is needed, although he acknowledges there is no simple answer to the situation.

“Just more enforcement,” he said. “It seems to be getting a little better at times. There’s more and more people all the time. So, no one knows the answer to that question.”

He also says people sometimes congregate around the entrance to his store after hours.

“When they congregate at night when the store is closed, they’ll congregate in your entrance,” he said.

Horgan does not live in Cobourg, so he says he often learns about what is happening at his business after he has left for the day.

“I get pictures. You know, I wake up to people have sent me pictures and video,” he said.

Even on Thursday morning, Horgan says someone came into the store and told him people had reportedly been sleeping near the business.

“I was unaware until that point,” he said.

Despite the ongoing problems, Horgan says he has no intention of leaving.

He has operated at the location for 11 years and has been on the block for 35 years.

Asked whether he could be driven out of the area, his answer was unequivocal.

“No. No, we won’t be beaten out of here.”

For Horgan, however, Thursday’s $175 ticket has added another layer of frustration to what he says has already become a difficult situation for businesses in the area.