Honey’s Beach barricades to remain in place for now
by Blake Wolfe/The Scugog Standard

Residents of a Lake Scugog shoreline neighbourhood north of Port Perry will have to wait at least a little longer to conveniently access the water again, pending the conclusion of a one-year trial period during which the lake access point has been barricaded by the township.
mSeveral Honey’s Beach Rd. residents attended a recent Scugog Council meeting to voice their objections to the barricading of vehicle access to Lake Scugog’s western shore at the end of Whitfield Rd.
mThe restriction is part of a township project to address issues that include late-night traffic and illegal parking in such neighbourhoods, particularly during the winter months when out-of-town snowmobilers and ice-fishing huts dominate the frozen surface of the lake.
mSpeaking to councillors, local resident Brian Smith said that the barricades will force him to bring his ice hut down Simcoe St. to get onto the ice from Port Perry, and then transport it back up the highway to his home after ice fishing season is over. Mr. Smith’s signature was one of 29 - virtually the entire Honey’s Beach community - on a petition included in the council agenda at the Dec. 5 meeting, which cites both the premium paid by those residents for lakeside living, as well as the potential for decreased property values due to a lack of easy lake access, as grounds for complaint.
mWard Five Councillor Howard Danson, who represents the area of Scugog in which the access point is located, told those gathered at the meeting that the traffic and parking situations resulting from lake use are persistent problems, as well as the environmental concerns regarding increased amounts of oil and gas entering the water from recreation vehicles. He added there are also concerns regarding decreased snowplow and emergency vehicle access due to traffic congestions from the number of vehicles parked along the street during peak times of lake use.
m“There is definitely a parking issue,” said Councillor Danson. “Once people have parked illegally down there, we can’t get the snowplows in.”
mAccording to Planning and Public Works Director Ian Roger, the barrier was placed there this past summer as part of a 12-month project to assess the parking and traffic issues in the area, with a report to come before council in 2012.
mAt that time, councillors will vote whether or not to leave the barrier in place.