Council has approved parking restrictions on some streets in The Village neighbourhood to accommodate waste collection vehicles after residents complained to the Region of Niagara.

Niagara-on-the-Lake councillors unanimously passed parking changes for small sections of Rampart and Elizabeth streets on Mondays between 7 a.m. and noon to ensure access for waste collection vehicles.

The region told the town waste collection vehicles are “having difficulty negotiating turns and accessing the private laneways on the above-noted streets, resulting in excessive boulevard wear and complaints from abutting property owners,” according to a staff report.

Coun. Sandra O’Connor wondered why this has become a problem now.

“I’m assuming when the development went through the planning stages things like the road width, the configuration, the turning radius and everything were approved by both the region and the town,” she said to town staff.

Mike Komljenovic, NOTL’s supervisor of engineering, said the roads were indeed approved by the region and town but variables like the size of cars, driver behaviour and size of municipal vehicles have created unexpected challenges in the area.

“I think going forward, this is a bit of a unique situation within The Village that is something we can keep an eye on and do a more comprehensive review the next time there’s a proposal of a similar type,” Komljenovic said.

O'Connor noted the town has “a number of developments coming up that are quite dense.”

“I want to make sure that when they are being reviewed by both the town and the region that this is looked at very carefully so that we have appropriate room for garbage trucks, fire trucks and snow plows.”

Six signs prohibiting parking in the Village will cost roughly $750, according to the staff report.