Morrisburg’s waterfront parking issues are front and centre for the South Dundas council. The council’s June 1 meeting featured a debate about how to protect the waterfront from being disrupted by excessive parking by visitors. Staff photo
MORRISBURG – During the June 1 council meeting, a report provided to council by the Danielle Watson, director of Environmental Services recommended the installation of barricades “along the east side of the parking lot, to the east of the Dockside Grill and along the south side of the existing ball diamond.”
After a discussion which included council members suggesting the need to investigate other solutions to the problem of motorized vehicles using the pathway and raising concerns over limiting access to the park, council decided to install the barricades as suggested in Watson’s report.
As the June 16 South Dundas council meeting drew to a close, councillor Lewis asked that the decision to place barricades to limit parking at the Morrisburg waterfront, to parking lot spaces made at the June 1 council meeting be revisited.
Through administrative procedures, re-consideration of the motion passed at the June 1 council meeting was undertaken, with the result being a decision not to install the barricades at the Morrisburg waterfront.
Wells commented he had received a lot of complaints about the decision to place the parking barriers, commenting how they should not be installed until after a proposed parking lot at the waterfront is completed. Concerns over ensuring accessibility to all people, safety of waterfront users and liability issues were discussed.
Watson mentioned how no other parks in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry allow this type of parking; the possibility of designating certain parking spots to ensure accessibility for those with mobility issues and staff concerns over the increase of out of province vehicles utilizing parking spots at the waterfront.
Deputy mayor Kristen Gardner, commented that perhaps the decision to install barricades to limit parking at the waterfront was made too quickly at the June 1 meeting, and suggested the need to look at parking location alternatives. She mentioned to Watson how a solution could be achieved by environmental designs utilized to control parking behaviours.
