Beachway parking problem has resulted in much stronger enforcement and some pretty stiff fines.

News 100 greenBy Pepper Parr

July 9th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

It was a full day’s work for members of city council today – they began at 9:30 and were at it up until just before six pm with a break for some lunch.

They met as a Standing Committee then got serious and met as a council.

We got a look at what the pandemic is costing us – on paper it comes to $18 million – in reality the city finance department has to find $4 million, give or take some change.

The Mayor seemed wedded to that $18 million number.  The full finance picture is a seperate story.

The stinker is the situation at the Beachway where fines of $250 are going to be handed out for those who park where cars aren’t supposed to park.

There is going to be additional signage; there will be additional staff on hand.  A motion was passed at the City Council meeting – held at the close of the Standing Committee meeting making it all legal.

The problems is – few will know what took place – the city might get some media out and while the Gazette has a large, very large readership – all of the Burlington market area isn’t a regular reader – yet.

During the debate on the Beachway parking problem we learned that the Parks and Recreation department doesn’t know how many parking spots there are – nor does it appear to know just how many people the Beach can accommodate – COVID or pre-COVID.  No one has done any counting or measuring.

Council came close to forgetting to make the plans for managing parking illegal. City Manager Tim Commisso spotted the error, brought it to the attention of the Chair who went through some procedural issues and resolved that issue.

Park your car in the wrong place and you will be giving the city a lot of your money.

The city has come to realize that the Beachway is getting to be as popular as it was several decades ago.

Beach with canal bride

Recent crowds at the western end of the Beachway.

Recently the crowds near the western end were very thick. Compare our news photography with the way it was 30 years ago when a railway line ran along the edge of the lake.

Parks and Recreation decided to take a long term look and decided that some way had to be found to manage the vehicle traffoic and approved the following Staff Direction.

Chris 7

Not certain how Burlingtonians will take to making reservations and then paying to park.

During the debate it was suggested that Burlingtonians would pay a lesser fee.

A lot of people are going to show up and be told that there is no room for them to park and be turned away.

The initiative for finding a way to limit parking in public parks came from Conservation Halton where the problem was not just the number of people visiting the Conservation parks but the need for more in the way of income.

The City doesn’t seem to go after more revenue – at least not yet.

 

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