Lake on the Mountain has a lot to offer tourists that come to visit: a provincial park, rustic cabins to stay in, fine dining and a million-dollar view.
This year, however, one thing that isn’t available by the Lake on the Mountain resort is on-street parking.
The family run resort and two restaurants are very close to the Lake on the Mountain provincial park.
Danielle Chretien one of the resorts owners says the municipal seasonal parking bylaw aimed at traffic congestion around the parks in Prince Edward County has missed the mark.
“It wasn’t supposed to do with any of the businesses around,” says Danielle Chretien of Lake on the Mountain Resort.
But Chretien says that turned out not to be the case.
“Our councillor at the last minute proposed a motion to remove parking within our boundary,” she says. “He did that with no consultation whatsoever with residents or the business.”
This motion eliminates on-street parking in front of the resort and the two neighbouring restaurants Chretien and her family own.
“A report to council next week will recommend a few minor changes that reflect lessons learned so far this summer, while also keeping with council’s objective of ensuring road safety and reducing traffic congestion,” says Prince Edward County Mayor Steve Ferguson.
But Chretien doesn’t believe road safety is a concern in the area.
“If it’s about safety we’ve never had an accident here in 30 years,” she says.
Ignoring the seasonal “no parking” sign comes with a $400 fine.
“You can park in a handicapped zone in the county and not get a fine that high,” says Chretien. “You can park in front of a fire hydrant and not get a fine that high.”
The Lake on the Mountain resort owner says for the last few weeks the county has backed off on enforcement, but there is still a lot of confusion for visitors.
“We do have customers that don’t realize that they are allowing the parking, they heard that they haven’t been allowing parking and for that reason they’re not coming if they’re elderly and have accessibility issues.”
Mayor Ferguson also said in his statement that the municipality will take a more fulsome review of the seasonal no-parking zones after the high tourism season.