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DEPUTATIONS REGARDING MOTION 17-G-046, ON-STREET PARKING - BIG BAY POINT ROAD.
Pursuant to Section 4.16 of Procedural By-law 2013-072, City Council considered a request by Mr. Mike Cooke to provide an emergency deputation in opposition to motion 17-G-046, On-Street Parking - Big Bay Point Road. Upon a vote of City Council being taken, Mr. Cooke was permitted to address City Council.
Ms. Barb Tansley provided a deputation in opposition to motion 17-G-046 concerning On-Street Parking on Big Bay Point Road. Ms. Tansley discussed a petition that was filed in February 2016 to keep the on-street parking signed by 30 of the area residents with a list of concerns. She commented regarding the survey statistics provided in the Staff Report and questioned the different results compared to the petition. Ms. Tansley noted that she felt that the Staff Report did not identify all the concerns of the residents related to grade changes and the shrinking of resident’s driveways from the road widening. She also expressed concerns regarding where visitors would park, where residents could park their vehicles in the winter, how residents would load trailers for vacation, where maintenance vehicles would park and how residents would safely get in and out of their driveways if traffic was speeding. Ms. Tansley concluded by stating that the residents’ concerns and issues had not been addressed.
Mr. Mike Cooke provided a deputation in opposition to motion 17-G-046 concerning On-Street Parking on Big Bay Point Road. Mr. Cooke thanked members of Council for the opportunity to speak. Mr. Cooke advised that he has worked varying shifts during the time he has resided on Big Bay Point Road so he is aware of the traffic conditions on the street. Mr. Cooke noted that he has spoken with his neighbours and that they are not in favour of the proposed parking prohibitions. He requested that consideration be given to prohibiting parking between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. between Monday to Friday, except statutory holidays to provide for parking during low traffic hours and allow for parking for visiting family on weekends and holidays. He provided examples of dates when there was not a lot of traffic along Big Bay Point.
Mr. Cooke raised concerns with respect to the door to door survey that was mentioned in the Staff Report, as he felt it wasn’t an accurate representation of the number of properties in the neighbourhood and the results were very different in a survey that he had recently conducted with a smaller number of residents. Mr. Cooke commented that he couldn’t understand how Council could consider voting on a motion if the data wasn’t accurate, as everyone he talked to was not in support of the proposed changes. He indicated that he understood that there are high traffic volume times and reiterated his request for consideration a parking prohibition on Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with the exception of statutory holidays. Mr Cooke indicated that Council could revisit the full parking prohibition after a period of time.