Kilbride resident John Delacey parked this car in his driveway after purchasing it about five months ago. A neighbour complained to city hall that it wasn't being moved and Delacey was eventually fined under a property bylaw involving inoperative vehicles on residential property. (CBC)A man from the Kilbride area of St. John's has been fined $50 and given 30 days to remove his own vehicle from his property after someone complained to city hall that it wasn't being driven.

"I feel I'm being picked on," John Delacey told CBC News shortly after he was fined. "You drive up the road and there's many cars in driveways with tires off them, flat tires, and everything else. I don't hear tell of none of them ever being taken to court for it."

Delacey, who said he bought the 1998 Ford Taurus for his daughter about five months ago, was taken to court by city hall under a section of the city's property bylaw that prohibits inoperative vehicles from being left on residential property.

Delacey said the vehicle, which he hasn't registered or licensed, isn't an eyesore and is in good working condition, except that it needs new brakes.

St. John's resident John Delacey says he'll fix his car now that he has been fined for having an inoperative vehicle on his property. (CBC)"I wouldn't put it on the road," he told CBC News, "because it wasn't safe for my daughter to go on the road with, with two kids."

Delacey said his daughter is a single mother who can't afford new brakes, so he was keeping the car parked until he had the $300-$400 to pay for the repair costs.

"It's my property and I got it parked there. It's not bothering anybody."

City property inspectors became involved when someone in the neighbourhood complained about the car.

Delacey said in November they showed up at his doorstep.

"Next thing I knew, around November, I gets a summons to go to court for having a car parked in my driveway," he said.

An official at city hall told CBC News that they get about 3,000 property complaints each year. First, a warning or a notice is given to the owner, and then possibly a ticket or court action.

Delacey said he doesn't like it, but he'll pay the fine and have the car moved.

"Get it towed to a garage and get it fixed," he said. "Register it and put it on the road."