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Local residents resist new proposed parking lot near Tiffany Falls
A proposed parking lot in Dundas near Tiffany Falls has residents in the area up in arms.
The Hamilton Conservation Authority wants to update access to the waterfall, and those in opposition say to find someplace else.
Residents on Lower Lions Club Road nearby told CHCH News that they’re concerned about increased traffic and the safety of the people and wildlife in the area.
“It’s a bad situation and making it worse,” said concerned local resident Warren Waxman.
CHCH News was able to have an overhead look at the proposed parking lot area for Tiffany Falls.
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The Hamilton Conservation Authority says the area near the Wilson Street entrance is outdated and unsafe due to the size and amount of traffic congestion.
The proposed solution? To close this site down and build a new one near Lower Lions Club Road.
“We’ve had ecology staff, we’ve had operations staff, we’ve had construction staff studying this area for a number of years now,” said Gordon Costie, the Director of the Hamilton Conservation Authority. “It is the most logical place that we can get to.”
“They have to come up with another option,” said Waxman.
Waxman lives along Lower Lions Club Road and has rallied with residents to oppose this new project with lawn signs, and by attending Hamilton Conservation Authority meetings.
It’s a conservation issue and a safety issue, says Waxman, and it goes against what the conservation authority is supposed to do: protect environmentally sensitive areas.
“This is an extremely environmentally sensitive area and normally very protected,” said Waxman. “Really, the job of the Hamilton Conservation Authority and the Niagara Escarpment Commission is to protect this area, not to disrupt it.”
According to the Hamilton Conservation Authority, a Visitor Use Management Plan was created to find a solution to the visitor safety issue at the Wilson Street entrance.
The environmental agency says the proposed parking lot on Lions Club Drive will be modelled after spaces at Webster’s Falls and Tews Falls — two spaces with similar systems.
“That’s where we can build a parking lot, to allow for visitor management measures like a gatehouse, like a reservation system, like we see at other conservation areas where we’ve managed and had success in other conservation areas with very similar challenges like Tiffany Falls is facing today,” said Costie.
The Hamilton Conservation Authority has no timeline for this proposed project.
They are continuing to gather information and explore options.
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