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Lakeshore Advance, 2011-04-20, Page 2626 Lakeshore Advance • Wednesday, April 20, 2011 ipperwash boat launch meeting to discuss parking Lynda HIOman-Replay Lakeshore Advance A public tneeting is (tentatively) scheduled for May 7, 2011 at the Port Franks Hall to discuss boat launch solutions. History In July of 2010, the uncontrolled use of the Centre Ipperwash road allowance for boat launching was raised at a Coun- cil meeting, and staff was asked to pre- pare a report on methods of controlling parking and launching In this area. (Centre Ipperwash road allowance dif- fers from the two other road allowances endings in the community as Army Camp Road and West ipperwash are not designated as "boat launch areas only", and are used for parking by both boaters and non boaters) The first decision at the July 13th, 2010 meeting was to maintain the "status quo" for 2010. There was a subsequent reconsideration of the issue at the meet- ing, after which the decision was made to restrict parking within 50 feet of the water's edge. During the "Discussion Period" at the end of that meeting, sev- eral residents spoke on the issue- some in support of and some in opposition to the parking batt. 'Ibis was and is a very controversial issue in the community," says Carol McKenzie, clerk, adding, as such, was discussed again several times after the July meeting, and it was eventu- ally decided that the parking restrictions be put on hold for 2010, and that a meet- ing be held in the fall to discuss the issues with the area residents. September meeting The on-site meeting took place on September 11, 2010, and the 4 options that clearly emerged from the residents at the "o11 site" meeting were: 1, Status quo, with signage erected outlining the rules and regulations; 2. Allow launching, but ban all park- ing on the (:entre ipperwash Road Allowance; r r. OAKWOOD -RESORT MENS' EVENING LEAGUE starts Thursday, April 28th after 2:00 p.m. New Members Welcome Sign up at Pro Shop Convener Billy Crowe 519-238-1061 3. Establish permanent "in" and "out" access lanes with a parking ban in the lanes; and 4. The establishment of a 30' in/out area in the middle of the allowance, with a parking ban in the in/out area. After reviewing the options, Council directed that a public meeting be held in the spring of 2011 to discuss the options with the residents at a time when most would be either in the area, or at least able to attend a meeting. The other instruction to staff after the site meeting was for staff to review the options with the By-law Enforcement Officer and the Ontario Provincial Police and consider the legalities of the options. With respect to the legalities, it was mentioned during 2010 discussions that the "boat launch" area is in fact a "road- way". The definition of a roadway in the Ilighway Traffic Act, and in the Munici- pal Parking By-law states: "roadway" means the part of the highway that is improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, but does not include the shoulder, and, where a highway includes two or more separate roadways, the term "roadway" refers to any one roadway separately and not to all of the roadways collectively: The (:entre Ipperwash Road allow- ance ending would meet this criteria as it has been improved (municipal equip- ment has and continues to perform "maintenance" on the roadway, either by grading the sand or by clearing the sand from the guiderails to allow park- ing), and is used regularly for vehicular traffic, albeit not straight through traffic. In addition, parking restrictions have been enacted in the area, including the designation of "handicapped only" parking spaces, and violators are tick- eted. Therefore, boats are being launched, and tow vehicles are hying parked man open roadway. 'I he law OAKWOOD RESORT LADIES' EVENING LEAGUE starts Wednesday, April 27th after 2:00 p.m. New Members Welcome Sign up at Pro Shop Convener Billy Crowe 519-236-1061 1 In discussions with the Munic- ipal solicitor, he has advised that there any no legal concerns with respect to using an open road allowance for boat launching, as roads leading to water have his- torically been used for the pur- pose of boat launching, how- ever the municipality would have an obligation to keep the road in an acceptable state of repair, as liability can flow from a failure to keep the road in repair. The municipality would not have an obligation to ensure the area can be used for launching. By-law Enforcement Officer Glenn Bell and Mckenzie met with Sergeant Mike Dougan to discuss the Ipperwash launch ramp issue, and Sergeant Dou- gan has advised that the U.P.P. will continue to monitor the area, and wilt be issuing tickets for vio- lations under the Highway Traf- fic Act for the use of golf carts, A'I'V's, or tractors on municipal roads, and will be ticketing any vehicle found to be towing a boat while people are inside. MUNICIPAL CONSIDERATIONS "it is important to be mindful of the fact that the options pre- sented at the meeting on Sep- tember 11th were from the per- spective Of the persons with boats in the ipperwash area, and there may be other concerns from a municipal perspective that should be considered in order to ensure all issues are explored during the review," says McKenzie. 1. Being able to launch a boat from public property free of charge is part of the ambiance of Ipperwash, however, similar to other issues Council has recently reviewed, this usage allows one group of citizens to have the use of public property that is not enjoyed by all citizens. Complaints are received from residents with families who come to enjoy the beach with their children and all their beach paraphernalia - coolers, towels, swim toys, dogs, etc - and are required to walk a significant dis- tance from the parking lots to the beach area, as they are not allowed to park in the area clos- est to the beach as the area is restricted to tow vehicle parking only. Requests have been received to consider designating the area as "first conte" parking. 2. Another issue that should be considered is the cost to monitor, maintain and regulate.' this area. Considering the number of tittles this issue has been considered in the past 25 years, it is clear that problems do arise out of this usage and it is left to the Municipality to resolve the issues, yet, there are no funds generated from this usage to assist with the resolu- tion of the issues. An inordinate amount of by-law enforcem t time is spent tnonitoring regulating the parking in area, and in order to recuperate some of the costs, or to ensure equity through out the commu- nity, it may be appropriate to consider a fee for use of public property. (It should be noted that the initiation of fees for the usage will bring additional issues to consider.) 3. With respect to the 4 options presented at the Sep- tember 11 meeting, any of the options selected will require municipal expenditures and enforcement. Funds will need to he allocated for these expenditures. If you go: May 7 (tentative) Port Franks Hall 10:00 a.m. The proposed format: resi- dents will he divided into groups at which the options can be discussed, and at the conclusion of the exer- cise, it is anticipated that one solution will be dominant, which may very we'll be a hybrid of the options. All decked out for a night of Burlesque It was a fun evening for all the ladies at the Gables last Friday as The Outrageous Burlesque fund raising event was a huge success for Kathie Wolcott and Bonnie Baynham. The two are heading to Mombasa, Kenya in June 2011 to refurbish hovels that children live in and who have been left without families due to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. This group of women were ani decked out for the occasion.