Does public safety trump accessibility?
The Town of Arnprior, at its June 28th municipal meeting, approved some regulatory changes to the status quo at Robert Simpson Park, reinforcing its no open air cooking policy, fencing off unsafe swimming on the Madawaska shoreline, and restricting access to the lower-level parking lot on the banks of the Ottawa River.
Mayor Walter Stack defends the decision.
The Mayor says removing the lower-level parking area only takes away a small number of legal spaces.
The social media group, What’s Up Arnprior, has added a new thread to the discussion- the restriction of accessibility.
A contributor sees parallels to a similar situation in the Town of Lincoln, on the Niagara Peninsula, where that municipality saw a judge rule against it, and was required to restore the beach parking privilege.
Mayor Stack says those parking illegally along the hill were doing so in disregard of public safety.
A minority of Arnprior councillors noted accessibility concerns in opposing the local changes at the June 28th meeting.
The discussion group indicates a local resident is in the process of lodging an Accessibility complaint to Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal.
