Despite concerns about a lack of parking and that Isaac Lane is a private road, Guelph-Eramosa council has approved a bylaw to designate the Rockwood laneway a fire route.
On Dec. 21, councillor Doug Breen said the road is essentially a shared private driveway and he thought the township should have as little to do with it as possible. But if the residents living on the road want the designation, then he has no problem with it.
Alex Kanarek, president of the Wellington Common Elements Condominium Corporation, told council the members of the corporation are in favour of the designation.
Kanarek said there have been three emergencies along Isaac Lane in the past year where emergency vehicles got down the lane just fine, but he said that may have been because there was no snow at those times. He explained the condo association has two main objectives – to manage the property and ensure the security of residents – and designating Isaac Lane a fire route would help accomplish both.
But when informed there will also be no winter parking on nearby Jolliffe Avenue, Kanarek said that could be a problem.
Public Works Director Ken Gagnon said the restriction along Jolliffe is necessary because snow removal along that road is an “operational nightmare” that resulted in the township having to tow two vehicles last winter.
Mayor Chris White worried the township could be taking on liability for a private road by passing the bylaw, and wondered if the condo association could provide its snow removal contract to see if it meets provincial requirements for snow removal. Kanarek said he would provide that contract, but other councillors seemed to think the township was not really taking on liability – just providing a way to enforce the already-existing, no parking restrictions along the lane.
When it came time to vote, Breen, White, and John Scott voted in favour of the bylaw, while councillors Reta Moyer and Roger Knapp abstained.
Later in the meeting, council unanimously passed bylaws to outlaw parking on Jolliffe in the winter and along one portion of the street year round.
