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Mono Council debates parking issues at Mono Cliffs

February 26, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Peter Richardson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The issue of the parking congestion along 3rd Line and its expansion to 2nd Line due to people accessing Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, came up for further discussion at Mono Council’s Tuesday (Feb. 23) meeting.

Primarily the discussion revolved around the Towns plan to institute new parking bans on both these roads and the enforcement procedures to be instituted also.

An expansive report and a new draft parking by-law was presented from Director of Public Works and Roads Superintendent Mike Dunmore, which ultimately drew two conclusions concerning the parking on Third Line.

The Town of Mono could either ban parking along both sides of the road, with signage, for a suitable distance north and south, or the no parking signs could be installed on only the east side of the roadway, thus allowing parking on the shoulder of the road directly in front of the parking lot and north and south of the entrance.

The second option was suggested by Mr. Dunmore based upon his recollection of how the situation was historically handled in Mono. He stated however that since 2014 and especially now during COVID, the volume of traffic into the park has increased dramatically, which prompted the current issues.

Deputy Mayor John Creelman pointed out that the current parking by-laws were not being adequately enforced by the Town and that it was much too big and ask for the single By-law Officer to more stringently enforce them, especially since much of the parking violations occur on weekends. He would like to see other officers involved in enforcement, be that POA officers appointed by the Town or Parks staff.

He also does not want to see enhanced enforcement solely on weekends, but rather routinely throughout the year. Further to this Coun. Manktelow pointed out that enforcement must be immediate once the signs are installed. Otherwise, he said the word would quickly spread that the ban was not being enforced and mayhem would result.

He noted that social media sites would quickly spread the word as to the new regulations and their enforcement. He also supported the Deputy Mayor’s assertion that it should be every day, year-round, not just selected weekends.

After discussion, it was decided to go with Option 2 and allow parking on the west side of 3rd Line, in the new By-law. At this point, Coun. Manktelow voiced concerns about 2nd line and suggested that this should also be discussed as the two roads are the access points for the park and if parking is restricted on 3rd Line, the response will be to move to the 2nd Line to pick up the overflow.

Coun. Manktelow went on to say that he had been approached by residents of the 2nd Line and had spoken with several who all wanted to see some parking control on 2nd Line too.

He pointed out that at the north end of 2nd Line there was room to park some cars without interfering with the residents or the traffic flow. Coun. Fred Nix agreed with parking at the north end also and went on to question the recent statements from the Parks Ontario stating that the existing 3rd Line parkinglot could not be expanded. He said that on inspection, there was no environmentally affected space to the north and east of the existing lot, that could be incorporated to accommodate perhaps 60 to 70 more parking spaces.

Deputy Mayor Creelman suggested that perhaps the by-law should be deferred so that the selection of option 2 and the parking on second line could be written into it, along with an enforcement section.

Mayor Ryan agreed with this, especially the addition of an enforcement clause and so moved to return the by-law to staff to include these changes and additions and the hiring requirements for the enforcement.

Coun. Manktelow interceded to say that more clarity was required regarding 2nd Line. Coun. Nix asked about stopping the parking ban before the cemetery on 2nd Line, so as not to interfere with visitations or funerals. Coun. Martin supported all of these ideas and agreed with the enforcement objectives. She was adamant that they simply cannot have people parking on both sides or 3rd Line.

On the same topic, the Town has received a letter from MPP Sylvia Jones, concerning the previously proposed second parking lot on 2nd Line by the Province. This option is no longer being pursued by Ontario Parks, due to objections from the residents and the Town. They are now considering hiring additional park wardens for public education and parking enforcement, having ministry officers designated as municipal by-law officers to regulate parking on municipal roadways and enhanced signage, social media messaging and see maintenance to support safer visitor experience.


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