The public has been given a first glimpse at plans for the redevelopment of parkland and parking in the vicinity of River Mill Park.
Town Councillors faced a lot of criticism when the idea of providing more parking in that area was first floated. Comments on Doppler followed a general theme: creating a parking lot by destroying a park is ridiculous. To which Town Councillor Bob Stone, who is spearheading the proposal, said, wait a minute. You are not seeing the whole picture. Give us some time to over-lay our plan on an aerial photograph so that you have a true understanding of what is being proposed.
The Town provided that aerial photo this week in two scenarios. Both plans would see a turn-around created at the end of Dara Howell Way to allow for cars to easily change direction and also to allow transports to more easily make deliveries to the area.
As well, the area between the edge of the park and the public dock that was ripped up during the dock construction and has since been used for parking will be excavated. A proper drainage system will be installed and the resulting green space will be added to the park for a seamless egress from the park to the dock. The Town says 220 sq.m. of parkland will be added through this initiative.
The two scenarios differ in how many parking spaces are being proposed along Dara Howell Lane on the park side of the laneway.
Parallel Scenario, 10 parking spots
Scenario one proposes ten parallel parking spots. Scenario two proposes 21 angled parking spots. Both scenarios would eat into about 170 sq.m. of parkland, but 220 sq.m. would be recaptured between the park and the river.
Angled Scenario, 21 parking spots
Councillor Bob Stone says the comments he heard at the meeting and from business owners have generally been positive.
Originally there was concern that we were losing parkland. However, while we are losing a bit of park on the Dara Howell Way side, we are actually gaining more park between the dock and the park itself. Councillor Bob Stone
Stone went on to say, “People acknowledged the fact that there is a great need for parking and that this would clean up the area. They also thought it was wonderful to connect the dock to the park. Business owners are thrilled that we are cleaning up the mess that has been happening back there for a decade now.”
However, one person who attended the meeting and does not think that either plan is a great idea is former Councillor Tim Withey.
This is a Town green space. Why are we rimming it with cars? If you build it they will come. If you don’t build it they will go somewhere else. They will absolutely find a place to park. We should encourage the Town to do something with the Brendale Square parking to get people to walk across the bridge. I think the Town needs to make better deals with other places for parking.
Also, a number of years ago when I was on Council, we decided to take out the parking meters. The onus was on the BIA to self-police staff parking in these places. You go out there today and you will see various business vehicles that have been there all day. So, there needs to be more policing of parking and that will free this up.
There is also an inherent danger to this idea. If you get cars parking parallel along the roadway, what about kids who might run in between them while delivery trucks come in? Eliminate it all. This is just a bad idea. Former councillor Tim Withey
In addition to cleaning up the area and making the laneway more accessible, Stone says the project opens up some grant opportunities for façade improvements. “As Economic Development chair we understand that we can tie in some grant funding if this project goes ahead to improve the façades of the backs of the buildings and improve the whole area.”
Stone says a comment from the evening that caught staff’s attention came from a group who suggested the whole park design needs rethinking; that its present layout is ridiculous.
They were concerned about more parking but they were more concerned about flipping the existing parking and the kids’ playground in order to connect the kids’ playground to the existing park. They think the present layout, with a parking lot between a play area and a park, is ridiculous. As relayed by Councillor Stone
Stone says Town staff talked about the idea afterwards and felt it’s a future issue that should be dealt with. “There seems to be a will but we haven’t put it in the budget. The financing for doing that, we do not know where the money would come from.”
For the proposal on the table, there is $50,000 allocated in the 2016 budget to fix the drainage problem along the east side of the park. It is estimated it will cost an additional $25,000 to $30,000 for the new parking spaces and that money would come from the parking reserves.
The aerial photos will remain on display in Partners Hall for the next few days. People are invited to have a look and are encouraged to leave a comment.
A staff recommendation will come to Council at the end of this month with the hope that everything will be in place for construction to start in the Fall.
Amen.
There is more parking in Huntsville than ever cars or people, and I have a Toronto, Bracebridge and Huntsville perspective.
Greenspace at the river is what is needed.
Not more pavement.
People can walk easily from any street, off-hours or empty retail parking lot in 5 minutes.
Pretend that the filthy, pigeon- encrusted empty retail spaces are filled with sucessful businesses…..that will happen soon……Huntsville can be up-and-coming, and it will be.
In-Town public parks are a necessity…..more green space before it becomes like a vacant parking-lot.
We can walk a block or 2.
Plant trees and grass.
Park land is established at its inception and is hopefully going to last for many future generations to enjoy in Huntsville. Our River Mill Park is a “Jewel” to downtown Huntsville and should not be changed for the sake of a few more parking spots. As our population increases with the influx of retirees from the south we should be looking at previously mentioned potential parking areas such as the Cann Street (Brendale Plaza) old beer store mess. Somebody has to fix this terrible situation. Any how a short walk across the bridge could be great exercise for anyone to enjoy our great downtown shops and fine eateries.
Did the town consider how the business will get delivery trucks in with the added parking and looking at the turn around it appears to be right to the dock and the town may want to look at their agreement with property owners.
I also notice that a rip rap spillway also cuts the park off from the dock areas.
Any safety concerns with having a rip rap (6in crushed rock) running through a park space? The town might want to look at this as most municipalities try to minimize possible safety hazards in parks.
Personally I think that this is a poor investment. Would it not be a better investment to buy property like the old dollar store and make a large parking area rather than adding up to 30 spots and reducing parkland, the calculated area in the article does not take into account the use ability of the area (the area between the dock and rip rap is a dead area, not really a usable area). Most cities are trying to find parkland, elevated park in NY city, under the Gardiner project in Toronto as examples.
I know it is hard for the town council to be creative when your ideas are only considered.
Huntsville has little enough public space downtown. I wonder why anyone would want to create any more parking in this area, rather than maximising the space for recreational and cultural use.
Few people cannot, or would not, walk across the river or across the street to get to the park or Main Street businesses (including employees of those businesses).
Asphalt does not appeal to visitors. We should take advantage of what little public waterfront remains in Huntsville.
Please remove the parking. Create full, seamless and open green space, broken only by pedestrian walkways in heavy foot traffic corridors to the stores, for example. New parking should be restricted to underground, as suggested, and in the new planning for the former Empire/A&P block to encourage ambulatory shopping and waterfront entertainment and leisure. I’d suggest that we also redevelop the entire beer lake area into a two-story indoor and outdoor farmers’ and craftspeoples’ market modelled on Montreal’s Atwater Market, and surround it with parking. The opportunity thus provided to walk between markets, stores and parks would also encourage folks to do the active living we’ve included in our Unity Green Plan.
I fully agree with Brian, Robin, Gail, and Rob’s comments. We should maximize the green space and take full advantage of the waterfront park. We need less parking back there, not more. Getting the playground connected to the rest of the park should be the priority. There is plenty of parking close to downtown. I suspect most residents will agree.
I totally agree with Tim Withey – amazing to me that he was the only one who stated it! This is a PARK, not a PARKING LOT!! People will always find a place to park and the recommendation to have Brendale Square fixed up is a much better idea. That area is, and has continued to be, a patched pothole disaster area that would be ideal for River Mill parking if resurfaced overall. Walking across the bridge to the park event and hearing the sounds from there only heightens the excitement, as anyone who has ever parked remotely at a carnival or to the Canadian National Exhibition can relate! Enlarge the green space and forget the additional parking. There always seems to be someone trying to bring in unnecessary changes to everything these days and the end results are often disastrous! My friends and I do not want to go to a green space for relaxation and have car engines and exhaust surrounding us – very unpleasant, as opposed to the much more pleasant sound of boat motors chugging past. Additional parking spots are both ugly and unnecessary – add more grass!
To reiterate what I’ve said since the inception of this wrong-headed scenario: simply eliminate the existing parking lot which separates the playground from the park proper. Include either a first floor or underground parking lot with either the development adjacent to the former A & P property or the Empire property. Use the short buses as shuttle buses from parking available at a distance from downtown and the park. In the summer, countless spaces exist at the high school. Even in the winter, the parking lot uphill from the Summit Centre is virtually empty during the day. If parking is absolutely required adjacent to the park, using the Angled Scenario would result in a net loss of only 10 spaces.
We are only on the verge of realizing the value of River Mill Park; with the Beerfest and the annual Band on the Run. Imagine 3-day music festivals with temporary stadium seating; as well as more remote picnics on the grass with speaker access to the music. Imagine an outdoor skating rink and a snow sculpture contest. The possibilities are endless.
One does not ignore an asset such as waterfront parkland. One maximizes both its size and its usage.
Wendy Brown, that is a stupid comment, and I do not agree with that at all. We have a wonderful downtown, and by saying that “No one goes downtown anyway” you are really showing your true colours. Negative comments like that are totally not needed.
I think you guys forgot to mention the new bandshell. We are losing half the park to it. So no to the new parking. And switch the playground and the existing parking. If you do that you will probably re-acquire the lost parking.
I lived in downtown Huntsville for 3 years and walked to many events from spring to summer to fall…and even winter….Every weekend there was ‘something’ going on- either in town, the park, Algonquin Theatre, in the water etc…People always found a place to park! This ‘extra’ bit of parking to me does not justify taking away parkland…so many events have the place saturated with people…how can you accommodate with a lesser area and allow them to roam and enjoy events within the park area….? People come here to be part of nature and not a parking lot…they come here to escape just such paved areas in Ottawa and Toronto! Keep it GREEN!
We’ve got a park with a parking lot right smack in the middle of it. Why not remove that parking and actually have a park that kids could run on, or play ball on, or just do park things on? Withey is right, people will find somewhere else to park. If they can’t then maybe the store owners will actually not park where their customers would like to park. And Bob could do his thing on the edge.
It seems to me that the reason there is parking on the middle was to keep the cost down as a result of an election issue from way back.
Come on Council make it a park.
DITCH ALL THE PARKING AND LEAVE THE PARK LAND , NO ONE GOES DOWNTOWN ANYWAY