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Greensville residents discuss weekend traffic, parking issues
(Flamborough Review, Mac Christie, Mar 14 2016)

There could be a light at the end of the tunnel for Greensville’s parking woes, after residents supported a plan to not allow stopping on any street east of Brock Road at a March 10 public meeting.

The meeting, hosted by Ward 14 councillor Robert Pasuta at Greensville Public School, was a chance for residents to air their concerns and provide input on possible solutions to the parking congestion in the community.

During busy weekends at Webster’s and Tews Falls, visitors often cram the streets with vehicles as they flock to the conservation areas. As a result, residents are concerned that emergency vehicles would not be able to navigate roads such as Short Road and Fallsview Road. Other issues raised included visitors leaving garbage in the community and trespassing on private property.

Pasuta, who is also chairperson of the Hamilton Conservation Authority board, told the crowd of more than 150 people that the HCA and city both want to solve the parking problems.

“First and foremost as your councillor, I want to help you,” he said. “If I have to, (I’ll) resign from conservation totally and fight for you people.”

He suggested the complete stopping ban east of Brock Road would be a good step toward solving the problem. He noted they would have to hit offenders hard with an enforcement blitz by bylaw officers, especially on weekends.

Pasuta noted the move would be costly, as bylaw officers don’t work on weekends, so they would have to pay overtime wages.

“It’s not about the money,” he said, indicating the parking ticket would come with a $75 set fine. “But I need your support to do that. That’s one of the things I can do for you.”

He said the conservation authority also has to find a solution to parking on its lands.

HCA chief administrative officer Chris Firth-Eagland said HCA is going to re-open the organization’s master plan, and rebuild it with the help of Greensville residents.

He noted the root of the problem is that the waterfalls are a popular attraction.

“We’ve got the second highest waterfalls in the province, perhaps with those two waterfalls together, the trail, the gorge and the lookout, we have perhaps the second-most visited waterfall site in the province,” he explained. “We all know how amazing it is and we all know there are many, many problems.”

Firth-Eagland noted the falls and the community are in transition. He pointed out that areas of Greensville, including Short Road, are built in 1820s fashion. He said the biggest issue with the falls is a lack of capacity – including a lack of parking capacity.

Consultants have told the conservation authority that the park has a maximum sustainable limit of 3,000 people, said Firth-Eagland. However, the HCA has no idea how many visitors use the park. “We have to do something to control how many people get in there.”

He added a major problem is visitors trespassing and cheating the system – not paying for parking, and instead parking in the neighbourhood. “There’s unsafe and inappropriate activities all the time,” he said. “Fence busting, selfies on the edge of the waterfalls, trespassing, trampling and snapping saplings off to make walking sticks, littering and parking behaviours.”

Marketing of the area has also contributed to the problem.

“We don’t have a handle on the marketing because it’s gotten away on us all,” Firth-Eagland said, highlighting the role of social media. “The wrong message is out there and we need to develop the right message.”

He noted based upon the registration on vehicles, visitors come from as far away as Halton and Mississauga.

Another big issue is that the park is porous.

“You can get in in so many different ways and so many aspects, until that is dealt with, it will be part of not being able to solve the problem,” he said. “We have to deal with perimeter management in some fashion.”

Pasuta countered that more fencing is not necessarily the answer.

“Good fences stop cattle,” he said. “Good fences don’t stop people – unless you’re in prison.”


Read it in full here.