A street in Scarborough is about to become unique in the inner suburb and could potentially re-open a debate over whether residents should be able to purchase on-street parking permits.

Pringdale Gardens Circle envelopes a new subdivision built on land where a school used to stand. Its more than 80 new townhouses have at least one garage and a driveway.

But people who live on the street say that getting parking tickets is a common experience.

Saji Cherian said he once stopped to unload bags of salt and within minutes had a $150 ticket. Other residents said they are regularly ticketed for parking overnight because a bylaw limits parking to three hours.

"Getting parking tickets is always like, 'Just take your punishment.' It's not fair because it is the only option. If there is another option, that would be better," said Cherian, adding that he would jump at the chance to purchase a parking permit.

"That would be better than getting a parking ticket."

Nausheen Somani says some of her neighbours get up in the middle of the night to move their cars to avoid tickets.

"Especially the neighbours that have driveways that are really short. And you know, they can only really fit one car inside their garage," she said.

Somani agreed that the option to purchase an overnight parking permit would be welcome.

"It'd be really beneficial for them, but also for us because if we end up having a big event at home and we have more than two families attending, it would be really good to have the option to buy a permit so we can park without getting a ticket," she said.

Most of the more than 80 townhomes on Pringdale Garden Circle have garages and driveways, but a handful do not have driveways long enough for more than one car. (Philip Lee-Shanok/CBC)

'No fault of their own'

And now residents of the street will get that rare opportunity. Last month Toronto city council approved on-street parking by permit between midnight and 7 a.m.

Coun. Michael Thompson, who represents the area, says the change will help those living in a row of nine townhouses on the street that don't have full-length driveways. Only 12 permits will be made available for the handful of residents facing unique difficulty.

"What happens is that if they park a second vehicle on their driveway, the vehicles are also on a portion of the city's sidewalk — which is obviously not allowed. They are getting ticketed now as no fault of their own," he said.

City Coun. Michael Thompson says permit parking is not needed in Scarborough because most homes have wide driveways and garages where people can park. (Grant Linton/CBC News)

The issue has re-opened the debate on overnight parking permits in Scarborough, which haven't been available for a decade.

Thompson says there's good reason for that. Many homes in Scarborough have wide driveways and garages where residents can park their vehicle, he said, adding that the can park multiple vehicles on his property. Contrast that with downtown, for example, where vehicle owners often have no choice but to park on the street.

Those opposed to the idea of overnight parking permits argue it could encourage homeowners to rent out rooms in houses in single-family residential areas.

Thompson, however, said that offering overnight permits to select residents on Pringdale is not a harbinger of bigger policy changes to come.

"It is not the shape of things to come in Scarborough. This is a unique situation. It is not simply that we're allowing on-street parking in Scarborough," he said.