The St. Lawrence Parks Commission has decided to allow snowmobiles along the Thousand Islands Parkway, conceding that the short-lived ban last winter was a mistake.
Darren Dalgleish, chief executive officer of the commission, told a pubic hearing on Wednesday that the question is not whether or not snowmobiles will be permitted – they will be – but what rules will apply to the their use.
He proposed a set of rules that are based on the “temporary” ones imposed by the commission after it lifted the snowmobile ban last February.
They are:
• Snowmobiles will be permitted along the north side of the recreation path that runs along the Parkway, not on the path itself. Dalgleish said the commission wants to protect the bike path, on which the commission has spent $2 million to upgrade. The rule would also provide some separation between the snow machines and other users, he said. Dalgleish said he realizes that it will be hard to see the paved portion of the path once there's snow on the ground, and the commission realizes that the sleds will sometimes stray onto the path.
• A speed limit of 25 km/h will be in effect. Dalgleish said the limit is a compromise that takes into account the concerns of safety, residents and snowmobilers. The commission had a choice of a higher speed limit and forcing snowmobilers to stop at every driveway, or a 25 km/h limit with stop signs at road crossings, he said. Dalgleish said snowmobilers preferred to drive more slowly rather than having to stop at every driveway. The limit is for the protection of children waiting for school buses or vehicles, including fuel trucks, that use the driveways, he said. The limit was part of the temporary measures and it seemed to work well, he said.
• The operating hours will be 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Dalgleish said the 11 p.m. curfew is in line with the rules imposed by other municipalities, although they vary a bit. The curfew is in response to residents' complaints about noise.
Dalgleish said the purpose of the public hearing was to gauge reaction to the rules. He said they could be “tweaked” in response to public comments, but indicated that the final rules would be pretty close to the ones he outlined.
A summer evening in July seemed an odd time to hold a public meeting on snowmobiles. The air conditioning in the Lansdowne recreation centre was cranked up and commission staffers circulated among the audience distributing cold bottles of water.
But despite the time of year, about 30 people gathered to hear the commission's plans. Political interest was high: In attendance were Roger Haley, mayor of the Front of Yonge township, Heidi Conarroe and Joe Baptista, both candidates for the mayor of the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands, TLTI Coun. Harold Emmons and aides for both MP Gord Brown and MPP Steve Clark.
The political interest was a reflection of the controversy generated last fall when the commission erected signs banning motorized vehicles from the newly-paved path that snowmobilers had used for decades. The ban wasn't new, if had just never been enforced. About 60 snowmobilers held a protest ride in February from Gananoque to Brown's Bay where they presented Dalgleish with a 1,000-name petition protesting the ban. A few weeks later, after talks with the snowmobilers, the commission lifted the ban subject to the temporary rules, which were the same as the permanent solution that Dalgleish proposed at the public meeting.
Dalgleish told the meeting that he didn't want to dwell on old grievances, saying the meeting was to discuss plans for the future. Whenever an audience member raised old complaints, Dalgleish steered the discussion back to the proposed new rules.
Most of the audience seemed OK with the commission's proposals, although there was some grumbling about the curfew and the speed limit.
Several people said snowmobilers liked to drive their machines into Gananoque or Rockport for a night out during the winter, and the 11 p.m. curfew would put a crimp into those plans. They suggested a 1 p.m. curfew would be be better.
One resident noted that the curfew was entirely about noise complaints from residents, yet Harley-Davidson riders roar their bikes up and down the Parkway all summer, making more noise than a snowmobile, and nobody is looking to ban them.
Dalgleish said there might be some room to manouvre on the curfew, and he promised the commission would reconsider the hours.
Several others said the speed limit was too low. Dalgleish said the limit was a compromise but indicated the commission could consider raising the limit on straight-away stretches on the Parkway.
The commission will continue to solicit public input on the rules during the summer with the goal of having permanent rules in place by the end of September before the snow flies.
