Conor Joerin was packing food into a delivery van outside his Bloor Street restaurant Sugo on Monday when the tow truck arrived.

Since closing his two restaurants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to patrons and staff, Joerin has been dropping off what’s left in his kitchen stores to foods banks and families most in need — prepared pasta meals, as well as dried pasta, homemade jarred sauce and fresh produce.

On Monday, Joerin, owner and operator of Sugo and Condo’s pizzeria next door, said he started loading the van at 3:45 p.m., which he parked across from the restaurant on the north side of Bloor just east of Lansdowne Avenue.

As he was locking up the shop, a Toronto Police parking enforcement officer automatically tagged his van and had it towed for parking on Bloor during “rush hour,” despite decreased traffic during the emergency.

“There’s no rush hour. They just shut the city down,” said Joerin Monday, when reached at the car lot after paying $400 to get his van back.

The north side of Bloor Street on that stretch has no-stopping rules in effect between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Last week, the city stopped enforcing some, but not all, parking violations as people were asked to work from home. Parking in a no-stopping zone during rush hour — something Mayor John Tory has pushed to enforce during his administration — is not one of the rules that was relaxed.

Joerin said there should be leniency for people trying to make deliveries or pick up essential items given the current situation.

He said he would have parked on the south side of the street, which only has rush hour restrictions in the morning, but a family that lives in an apartment above the restaurant was packing up a van and he wanted to give them space. Joerin said he was 20 minutes into the rush hour period when the vehicle was towed.

“Even a grace period of an hour or two right now — but they’re still hitting Bloor Street like it’s normal everyday business … Maybe they could be a little more forgiving with times,” he said, adding the current rules are not clear.

“Obviously it’s a changing situation, but I think they need to be pretty clear with people and understanding with what’s going on in these communities and neighbourhoods.”

On March 18, Tory announced enforcement would be paused for the following offences:

on-street permit parking areas;

on-street time limit offences;

North York winter maintenance bylaw;

expired vehicle validation licence plates;

boulevard parking;

school zones with posted no-stopping/no-standing/no-parking signage.

Asked Tuesday why parking enforcement was still cracking down on rush hour offences, Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, who is heading the city’s emergency operations centre during the outbreak, said “it’s being reviewed.”

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“We are live to that issue. Those concerns have been received and have been fed in to the emergency operations centre,” Pegg told reporters at city hall.

Toronto Police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said in a statement that officers are being “encouraged” to use discretion where possible if vehicles are actively engaged in deliveries. She added that police have also temporarily suspended impounding “heavy” delivery vehicles in the downtown core so supply chains are not negatively impacted during the pandemic.

Tory told the Star Tuesday he would ask police to look into the issue more in light of “dramatically reduced traffic levels.”

“I wish the guy hadn’t been towed,” he said. “That’s unfortunate.”

The towing cost Joerin. He paid $150 to the city and $250 to the towing company to get the van released from a lot in the Junction — where he said eight people were packed too close together in a trailer trying to get their vehicles back — and make the deliveries he’d promised.

The outbreak has caused stress for business owners and residents alike, and he’s trying to make something positive out of a bad situation, he said.

Joerin said he didn’t feel comfortable doing takeout even though it’s permitted by provincial orders, saying he didn’t want to risk his staff and the neighbourhood and it didn’t feel right to do business at all. That meant laying off the staff at Sugo and the newly opened Conzo’s.

He was back in his restaurants on Tuesday prepping more free pasta meals in the kitchen.

“We’ve burned up all our perishables over the last week pretty much and the weekend — mostly to food banks in the form of prepared meals, but also to a couple of churches and a makeshift shelter,” he said.

He posted on Instagram Monday that he will make free deliveries for anyone in need of food.

“$400 in tickets and a virus, will not stop us from feeding the community! that made us!! We love you Toronto!!!”