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Mono Council working to address parking problems

June 24, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Peter Richardson

It would appear the issue of parking in Mono is still a hot ticket item.

Mono Council’s agenda was once again inundated with concerns.

During public question period, resident Carol Terentiak explained that she had walked Mono Cliffs Park since she moved to Mono, 16 years ago and now could not as she had to drive from 10 Sideroad, but was not allowed to park.

She went on to add that the weekends were the worst and wanted to know if the Town could give residents a parking pass, which allowed them to park on the roads, when visitors could not.

Mayor Ryan responded by saying that Council would be discussing that issue later in the agenda and could perhaps speak to Carol after those discussions.

CAO Mark Early stated that the Park was also requiring a permit for day use of the park and that this would be another factor to look into.

Coun. Fred Nix then stated that he had had a telephone conversation with a resident of the 5^th Line with almost the same problem.

He then went on to say that some residents of Mono, consider Mono Cliffs Park to be their park and this is simply not true. It is a Provincial Park and as such is for the enjoyment of all Ontarians, not simply Mono residents. He said that he did not see where Mono residents had any more right than anyone else to access the Park.

Deputy Mayor John Creelman added that a proposal had been presented to Ontario Parks, to form a Friends of Mono Cliffs organization, which would primarily be members of Mono. In return for picking up garbage and such, they would be rewarded with a parking pass. Deputy Mayor Creelman went on to say that he would be willing to bring this up, at the next parks committee meeting.

Mono resident, Doug Kiser, spoke next during question period, again concerning parking. He wanted to know what the Town planned to do to stop parking on 1st Line, the East end of Blue Heron Drive, and the Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) trail parking in the lot, which is taking away playground parking.

Coun. Sharon Martin gave an impassioned reply, stating that all of this was a great nuisance to Mono’s residents and that is who Council represents.

She said she has no issues with those who come and did things properly, but was exasperated with the rest.

Coun. Martin added that the Hockley Road lot was signed as a community parking lot and people from Oakville are not a part of the Mono community.

Deputy Mayor Creelman felt that the Town should erect signs, stating, “Residents parking only, no access to Island Lake, place use official entrance from Hurontario Street.”

He also wanted a sign reading, “Residents entrance only, visitors use the official entrance from Hurontario Street” to be erected on the Blue Heron Drive entrance to Island Lake.

Revised no-parking bylaw

Moving on, Council heard a report from Clerk Fred Simpson, concerning the revised no parking by-law for Blue Heron Drive. The report detailed the costs of supplying an on-demand system of permits and found this to be prohibitively expensive. The cost would be $25,000 with a licensing factor of over $4,500 annually.

In addition, it would take three to five business days to get the permit to the resident. Instead, it was recommended to use a printed passant to charge $25 per pass requested.

Coun. Fred Nix spoke up and said that he had heard from some residents who thought this was excessive. Coun. Nix said he had no problem with the cost of the tickets. However, no one had to buy a permit, they could perhaps borrow their neighbours permit should they need one.

Coun. Martin proposed a different idea. She wanted to know who owned the entrance road to the park off Blue Heron. She was told that the Town owned it and she immediately said it should be closed.

Coun. Martin said this is done all the time and that the neighbours on either side could simply butt the road allowance. It is done all the time she proffered.

Coun. Martin felt that it being an emergency egress was not sensible. She couldn’t wrap her head around charging residents to park on municipal roads.

Mayor Ryan asked if it could be done and was told yes.

Coun. Nix said he feared that it was potentially a problem to close the road. It was an access point for the residents and they have become used to it. By closing it, the only access to the Conservation Area was via the Main Gate and this could anger some people.

Deputy Mayor Creelman supported Coun. Martin’s proposal and felt Council should investigate it. Council decided to send it back to staff for appraisal and to adopt the report and create the no parking zone along Blue Heron Drive.

If they did close the road, it was noted that they could reverse themselves on the no parking.

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