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Residents bring forward more parking issues in Mono

June 17, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Peter Richardson

Public Question Period during Mono Council on Tuesday (June 8) proved to be a long-winded affair.

To begin with, resident Adelle Barr-Klouman asked if Council would consider a local parking pass to allow residents to access Mono Cliffs Park and other surrounding trail heads. She also took the time to thank Council for their help in addressing the recent parking and traffic issues in Mono.

Mayor Ryan suggested that this was a part of the ongoing discussions of Council on this subject and that Council would respond to Ms. Barr-Klouman following the decisions of Council during the meeting.

The next question, from Mark Darby, concerned what mitigation measures Council was considering for the new tennis courts being installed at the new Island Lake Family Park.

Mayor Ryan said that the landscaping and natural surroundings should help with any noise from travel and that as far as the light was concerned, director of recreation, Kim Heaton explained that in the other courts they are on a timer that shut them off at 10 p.m.

The timer would allow activation of the lights up until that time if the courts were being used. However, after 10 p.m., the lights could not be activated. Depending upon Council’s wishes, this would be the procedure at the new courts.

Mayor Ryan said that noise travel seems to be what Mr. Darby was most concerned about and her understanding was that the landscaping was deigned to solve this issue.

Heaton again explained that this was correct. Coniferous trees were to be planted along the back to mitigate the noise travel. A response to Mr. Darby would be formulated based on these observations.

Blue Heron parking issues

Moving on from question period, a presentation was made by two residents of Blue Heron subdivision regarding parking issues on Blue Heron Drive.

Glen White and Mark Train came to ask Mono Council to help deal with the issue of parking on Blue Heron in order to gain free access to Island Lake Conservation Area, via an emergency access road from Blue Heron to the conservation area.

Mr. White explains that he lived on the cul-de-sac and the traffic was a hazard to his children as well as the peace and quiet of the neighbourhood.

He states that the volume of cars and litter in the area is a problem. He said he has had to pull a child back from the road due to someone looking for parking and not paying attention and recently overheard someone on their cell phone guiding people in from  out of town, to park.

Mr. White says he has approached all his neighbours and they are in agreement with his two-pronged approach. He would like to see a no parking zone established on the section of Blue Heron Drive as well as some form of parking pass for the residents for such things as social gatherings or visitation by friends and relatives. He has been in touch with Town staff and Coun. Fred Nix and said he is very pleased with the responses from both.

Mr. Train, who has been on Blue Heron Drive for 16 years, explained that originally the only access to the subdivision was off Hwy.9, so that if this was interrupted, no one could get in or out.

Subsequently, the emergency egress/ingress road was built, through Island Lake Conservation Area. Unfortunately, this access is shown on both Google and Apple Maps so anyone looking for entrance to the Credit Valley Conservation Authority (CVC) can readily see it. This has created the existing parking problem that was being described.

Coun. Nix agreed with the presentation and felt that it was quite acceptable. He agreed with the parking permit exemption and said he felt that having the no parking rules coincide with the CVC hours of operation was reasonable too.

Deputy Mayor John Creelman then broached a question to Bill Lidster of the CVC, who was also in attendance, if the access road was on any of their maps of promotions, and was told no.

Mr. Lidster then reminded Council that there was a tri-party agreement between Mono, Orangeville and the CVC to allow free access to the Vicky Barron Lakeside Trail and that Orangeville and Mono pay a maintenance fee for the residents to gain access to the park.

Deputy Mayor Creelman conceded the fact, but expressed the opinion that perhaps it was time to close that entrance point and others as well. He asked where the no parking zone should end. Glen pointed out a natural point on Blue Heron existed on one end of the Cul-de-sac by the river and this is where he proposed it be.

Deputy Mayor Creelman pointed out that the Town’s experience was that people would walk up to three or more kilometers to enter Mono Cliffs Park and this proposal might just push the problem further down the road.

Mr. Train answered that he felt this was a different problem from Mono Cliffs. He noted that there was no other available parking whereas in the Island Lake facility there was ample parking in the conservation area.

Further discussion involving the Director of Public Works, Mike Dunmore pointed out that after hours parking could be an issue when the CVC was closed and Mr. Train suggested that it was primarily during daylight hours that the parking applied.

Mr. Dunmore then suggested that if the signs coincided with the CVC hours plus some time before and after their hours, that it would be adequate to deter parking.

Mr. White suggested that the summer hours of the CVC be used and this would cover other times of the year.

In the end it was decided that Council would instruct staff to prepare a report for the next Council meeting regarding a No Parking By-law amendment and that Council would then deal with the problem.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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