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Mono council agrees to allow some parking on First Line

May 11, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITATIVE REPORTER

Mono is looking at the possibility of allowing parking on First Line’s east side but away from houses.

The parking idea is one of the options considered during the May council meeting for patrons of the Island Lake Family Park.

Mayor John Creelman said there’s a bylaw against parking on First Line. He suggested that town staff return to council with an amended bylaw allowing parking on First Line’s east side.

Council directed staff on Feb. 14 to look into the costs of parking options at Island Lake Family Park.

Should council choose to expand the existing six-car parking lot westward to a 12-vehicle granular lot, the estimated cost would be $21,000 plus the cost of permits and engineering.

“It is important to note that, with the expansion of this present parking area, there are concerns pertaining to interference to the CVC wetland area,” Kim Heaton, the town’s recreation director, wrote in a report to council.

“The protection of the natural environment will be priority should this option be chosen.”

Should council choose to create a new 20-vehicle granular lot in the park’s interior, the estimated parking area costs $37,050. In addition, a single-lane driveway to the parking area is estimated to cost $40,000. Engineering costs would be an added expense.

That location would bring parking closer to the park amenities and further away from the homes on Blue Heron and First Line.

“Even though there is a variety of shrubs between these homes and the proposed parking lot, an array of tree plantings to the south of the parking lot would further increase the privacy for the homes on Blue Heron Drive,” Heaton wrote.

The costs for the above can be funded from development charges as it is an extension of the park development. 

Heaton recommended that, to allow individuals to park closer to each of the park’s features and to allow for anticipated increased parking and in consideration of wetland interference caused by the expansion of the existing parking lot, a new parking lot with screenings should be built as opposed to expanding the existing parking lot. 

Deputy Mayor Fred Nix said that an interim option that would be less costly and simpler would be to leave a gap in the No Parking zone on First Line on the east side of the road without houses.

“We’ve got the small parking lot and then, if we get a lot of people coming to the tennis courts, they can park on the road,” Nix said. “Maybe we should give it a year and just see how many people we have using the tennis courts in the park.”

Councillor Elaine Capes said it’s too early for council to take any action on the issue yet.

“To allow some parking, if there’s room for some parking that doesn’t obstruct people’s homes, then we should do that,” Capes said.

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