'It is infuriating': Oak Ridges residents say trail-goers ignore COVID-19 rules

‘People should be staying in their own neighbourhoods and only making essential trips, not coming to our neighbourhood.'

Yorkregion.com
May 7, 2020
Sheila Wang

Frustration grew as Oak Ridges residents saw an increased number of trail-goers flocking to their neighbourhoods over the weekend.

As the weather warms up, several residents say they’ve seen more people drive up to Bond Lake and the Oak Ridges Corridor Conservation Reserve, raising concerns over the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus in the community.

"It is infuriating," Resident Michelle Lockett said in an email to The Liberal. "People should be staying in their own neighbourhoods and only making essential trips, not coming to our neighbourhood."

Lockett lives just north of Stouffville Road and Yonge Street, where she said illegally parked cars, and crowds gathering in groups “far larger” than five packed the neighbourhood over the weekend.

It made the resident hesitant to go out in her own neighbourhood.

Many cars were seen parked both sides Yonge Street south of Old Colony, lining Old Colony just east of Nantucket Drive, and on several residential streets, in the photos provided by Lockett.

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, which manages these lands, has closed all parking lots in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The trails have remained open.

"This past weekend, Sunday it was totally insane," resident Dave Collings wrote about the number of visitors at Bayview Avenue and Bethesda Sideroad, saying there has been some patrolling in the Lake Wilcox area, but his neighbourhood near the skate park saw none.

Collings said he and his neighbours have contacted the city and TRCA about their concerns about these visitors disregarding the COVID-19 rules since the start of the pandemic.

Little has been done, he said.

I I feel that the city needs to come down hard on people now to avoid this problem worsening in the weeks and months to come, Lockett said.

Richmond Hill bylaw officers are monitoring public spaces seven days a week, the city told The Liberal on May 5, noting the focus is on "helping people understand the restrictions put in place by different levels of governments" and why the measures are important for protecting the community.

In an effort to limit the spread of the new virus, the city has warned of $750 tickets for using closed park amenities and/or congregating in groups in Richmond Hill.

The city has issued a total of nine tickets that were related to the province’s COVID-19 orders, as of May 5.

Vishal Gupta, an Oak Ridges resident, said the surge in visitors happens every year around this time in the area and this year hasn’t been an exception, despite the pandemic.

While Gupta was not "overly concerned" for the neighbourhood, he worried about the difficulties in maintaining physical distancing "on the small trails around the lake, or is smaller forests".

The city noted the enforcement of provincial orders is a joint effort between Richmond Hill, TRCA and York Regional Police.

"There was a noticeable increase in parking volume at Bond Lake and the Oak Ridges Corridor Conservation Reserve lands," Diana Ginsberg Cohen, spokesperson for TRCA, said in an email May 6.

York Regional Police and Richmond Hill’s parking enforcement department have been notified of the spike in use, she said.

While TRCA enforcement officers "have the ability to write tickets " for failure to comply with the provincial order, the spokesperson said the conservation authority has not had to issue a ticket so far.

TRCA hasn’t received a formal compliant regarding gatherings or physical distancing issues at these facilities, either.

In addition to the COVID-19 signs put up at parking lots and trail heads, TRCA has maintained an enforcement presence around Bond Lake and the ORCCR lands every day.

In the evenings of May 1 to 3, the conservation authority established a security presence at Bond Lake as well, according to the spokesperson.

When asked if TRCA is going to ramp up these efforts, Cohen said the enforcement is already working "at capacity" during this pandemic crisis.

The increasing volume of visitors in these areas have posed a challenge for TRCA to continue to ensure physical distancing rules are obeyed as the weather improves, she said, and urged people to "limit their use" of these facilities to protect themselves and TRCA staff.

Residents may file complaints to TRCA at info@trca.ca regarding the COVID-19 guidelines or directly reach out to the enforcement officers and other staff.