Happy Be-lated Easter everyone!
Its been a great weekend with the weather (albeit a bit cool) and fun Milton events. There was an event being held on Good Friday courtesy of The Village in town at the Milton Fairgrounds.
It was advertised as a free event, a massive “egg drop” for the kids in town and the first of its kind anywhere. If you did get a chance to come out, you were one of the few who didn’t. Close to 2000 people came out with their children in tow to take part, throwing the organizers for a loop, as they only expected 1/2 of that.
The winds were high early in the morning and they were not allowed to set the balloon aloft to the bright sky. The Milton firefighters improvised and raised their crane in the air and dropped hundreds of plastic eggs, each one containing a ticket to be redeemed for easter candy and prizes, into a crowd of children below.
Despite the extra numbers that did come out, it was a pretty good event, once again showcasing Milton as a family friendly town. Despite a few kids getting bumped around and temporarily getting lost, everyone seemed to have fun. Of course, as with any event, things can get better. Anthony and Miranda also had a blast to say the least.
Some other council notes: the new ward boundaries have been officially approved and will be in effect for the next election in 2010. Yes its only a year away. Only two councillors voted against the changes (Regional Councillor Colin Best and Town Councillor Jan Mowbray) siting reasons that the boundaries wont be accurately divided and they recommended that town staff take a further look to make sure its the best job it can be.
This means Milton will go from a 4 ward/2 councillor per ward system to an 8 ward/1 councillor per ward system. This should help increase accountability for our town representatives which would be a drastic improvement from what we have now. You can read some details here from the Champion.
Also included in that update is councils decision to allow people to pave their driveways to have 2 car parking, even if it means paving part of your lawn.
Driveway expansions approved
Residents with a home that has at least a 26-foot frontage will now be able to expand their driveways to fit two cars, even if it means paving over a portion of their lawn.
Council approved the changes to the zoning by-law last week in an effort to accommodate the needs of residents with multiple cars, some of whom have resorted to parking on their lawn as the Town doesn’t allow street parking for more than three hours.
The Town still requires enough green space such as a lawn or garden to allow for water filtration.
This doesnt mean someone could pave their entire lawn for driving, as you do need enough room on the lawn to allow for the flow of water. For some time there has been a debate, especially in the new area of Milton, about people and their parking habits. Residents have been coming up with creative ways of parking which include on the road, in the driveways with the end of the car over the road (risking tickets and raising safety issues) and also parking perpendicular at the end of the driveway. All of the fault seems to be laid squarely at the towns feet…unfairly to say the least. They may not have taken this kind of growth into consideration but as one of my neighbours said to me recently “no one held a gun to their head to buy the house knowing they had 2 or 3 cars”.
True enough … and what about the garage?
Accountability would be good. I still haven’t heard squat from the guy we elected in the by-election – not even in ‘Council Briefs’. I emailed him once and got crickets. Hopefully this will help.
As for garages, people might have room to put their cars in them if they also had room in their yard for a decent sized shed to put all their yard crap in. But this is what you get when you build neighbourhoods full of giant houses on tiny lots. I, on the other hand, have a tiny house on a giant lot. Which means I can fit half a dozen cars along my (mostly unpaved) driveway, but my garage is barely big enough for the lawnmower, snowblower, bikes and assorted gardening tools.
It’s all about priorities, I suppose.
I assume youre speaking of Greg Nelson, Councillor for Ward 2? You will find that if you keep on them, or write letters to the editor, or even blog about the lack of response, it doesnt help. It almost has to become front page news in order to illicit any kind of reaction from members of council.
Part of the issue I hear from people is how the street and homes look when cars are parked on lawns, on the side on the driveway and perpendicular at the bottom of the driveway. Some cars are parked over sidewalks or hanging off the ends of the driveway into the street, which raises a number of safety issues. Hopefully these changes will be closely monitored so that if people do pave part of their lawns its practical and safe for the community. – Mike
I live near Irving Terrace and I drive around the area and see people parking on lawns making their homes and the streets look like a trailer park. Now that the winter snow is gone we see the effects of what parking on grass does. It looks like crap.
I use my garage for what it was meant for…my car!!! I have things like lawnmowers and garden stuff as well. I use shelves in the garage to store all of that.
One of my neighbours doesnt understand what the garage is for as its stuffed with junk and he ends up parking on the street all the time. When Milton Parking comes by, he has his car hanging off the end of the driveway or over the sidewalk as well. My wife takes our kids for a walk and has to walk either on the street or on his lawn to get by.
And I agree with the comment that no one held a gun to their heads to buy the house when they own two pickup trucks or two minivans.
Safety of the community should be the most pressing issue here. You shouldnt have to walk on the street with kids to get around a car parked on the sidewalk or hanging on the end of the driveway. Like I said, I hope these provisions will help, but again I hope that we dont have a community filled with paved lawns that look like parking lots. – Mike.