In the end, green space won out over new parking in River Mill Park. After lengthy discussion, Councillors voted 6-3 against the option to add angled parking spaces which would have created room for 14 more cars at the south edge of the park.
With drainage improvements needed between the park and the Town Docks, councillors also elected to direct staff to grass over the current triangular parking area next to the docks rather than repaving it once the drainage improvements are complete which will result in a loss of seven parking spaces in the area.
Acknowledging that downtown parking is an issue, Council directed staff to investigate other one-way options in the downtown business area to alleviate parking stresses, a process that will once again include public input.
Here’s how it all played out…
Two options were originally presented to Council in a staff report in January. A decision on those options was deferred to allow for public input at a meeting in March. The two options returned to last week’s Council meeting (April 27): one with 10 parallel parking spaces for a net gain of three at a total cost of $57,440, and one with 21 angled parking spaces which would have partially cut into park green space for a net gain of 14 at a total cost for $67,430. Both costs would have been offset by the $50,000 already budgeted for drainage improvements between the park and the Town Docks.
Brandon Hall explains drainage improvements in River Mill Park to Council
Discussion on the options had councillors standing firm in their beliefs on either side of the issue.
Speaking out passionately against the proposed options were Councillors Wiebe, Alcock, Terziano, Schumacher, Fitzgerald and Armour, while Councillors Thompson and Stone and Mayor Aitchison were in favour of the angled parking option.
“This gives us much needed additional parking downtown,” said Councillor Brian Thompson. “The suggestion that we buy Dollarama parking lot, that’s pie in the sky. If someone has a million and a half dollars they want to give the town, that would be great but that’s not going to happen. And it’s private property – we can’t ask people to park there. Using the Empire lot, we don’t know what’s going on there and that’s a short-term fix in any event. We need parking. This adds greenspace (when the triangle parking is removed) which people want and we’re adding parking which the business owners want and need.”
A proposed plan for angled parking would have added a net 14 additional spaces next to River Mill Park
In response, Councillor Jonathan Wiebe said, “I couldn’t disagree more. Trying to create that (angled parking) in very limited space is in my opinion going to create far more traffic, it will be a bigger parking headache, and I think we forget the value of greenspace is very high. In the big scope of things we can’t take that lightly. I’d love to see an option three which is greenspace it, add the drainage and add no more parking, do not cut into the park whatsoever.”
Councillor Nancy Alcock said she supported Wiebe wholeheartedly, and referred back to the Town’s 2010 Community Improvement Plan which had a vastly different vision for the park. “We spent a lot of money on that and had some tremendous recommendations. We have these plans, let’s look at them and see if we can implement them. I agree we do have a parking problem… just because we have a parking problem and we have this option before us, that doesn’t make it right. This is not the location for more parking. Let’s find more parking but not in what Councillor Brian Thompson called the jewel of our downtown. I wish there was an option 3.” (See a PDF of the 2010 Community Improvement Plan here.)
The Town’s 2010 Community Improvement Plan suggested a concept for River Mill Park that included more pedestrian-friendly areas and less parking
In the beginning, there was a very nice conceptual drawing and it was all green, beautiful. And then a new administration came in and all the sudden there’s parking there. I don’t want to continue parking there, I want to continue park there. Whatever we can do to continue park there instead of parking, I’m going to do.
Councillor Det Schumacher
Councillor Bob Stone reminded Council of the potential impact on downtown businesses, given that parking spaces are already declining with the sale of the Chamber of Commerce building and the grassing over of the triangular parking area. “I’m content to not put parking spots here only if we can find additional parking elsewhere downtown. Losing these is dangerous to our downtown and our businesses.”
It was a suggestion amenable to Councillor Jason Fitzgerald: “We need to come up with other options. If you look around anywhere else in Muskoka there is a lack of parking problems but that’s due to a failing core. We want to have parking problems here…that means we have a vibrant main street. We need to look at an encompassing plan not just one part of the puzzle… Can we create more spaces there, yes, but I think we need to look at the bigger picture.”
The resolution was defeated 6-3 and a new resolution was proposed by Councillor Dan Armour that staff be directed to investigate and report back to General Committee on additional one-way parking options in the downtown core.
Town of Huntsville’s Executive Director of Infrastructure Jason Krynicki suggested a public meeting to see what ideas are generated before spending money on consultation. He gave an example of a possible one-way option: turning High Street from Brunel to West into a one-way road heading west with angled parking on the south side of the street. “We could probably fit 40 angled spaces in there,” he said. “There are some entrances we would have to deal with and we would have to work with the funeral home for proper access there so that’s a ballpark figure, but it would increase the parking on that street and also eliminate unsafe left turns from High Street onto Brunel.”
Following a public meeting, staff will return to Council with suggestions and then perhaps hire a consultant to determine impact on traffic and neighbouring streets.
“There’s no silver bullet here,” said Mayor Scott Aitchison, “unless we spend a few million dollars to build a parking garage somewhere. We are going to have to do a variety of things.”
Want some background info? Read these related Doppler stories:
Is it River Mill Park or River Mill Parking, or both? The public gets a chance to weigh in.
Opinion: When it comes to River Mill Park, how about option three – none of the above
Opinion: Listen Up! Eating into valuable green space in River Mill Park is not a parking solution
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If the recent Maple Festival proved anything at all, it is that interested parties will always find a way to get to River Mill Park and the downtown core, and locate suitable parking if they are coming from a distance. With a part of Main Street closed off and the street’s parking spaces unavailable, thousands still attended the festival, and when I asked a few of them if there had been any problems finding parking, the response was always “not at all” There were a lot of people staying at Deerhurst who came to the event in that crowd as well. It certainly showed the town that you don’t have to wait for the tourists to arrive in order to have a successful season! If you have a varied event in one local spot, it will be well attended!