OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to previous letter to the editor responses to an article regarding potential new boat trailer parking fees for visitors, published March 29.
I find it insulting to be called selfish by Mr. Reimer and threatened by Mr. McIntosh.
Orillia taxpayers like myself have been footing the bill for their “free” access to lakes Simcoe and Couchiching for long enough.
If they can find cheap or free facilities elsewhere then they should go to those places. My experience is that there are very few “free” launch and parking facilities, especially in urban areas where land values are very high and available space is very low.
Otherwise they should expect to participate in sharing the increasing cost of providing those facilities, and mitigating parking shortages, traffic congestion, and local accessibility issues. I don’t want it all on my tax bill while they live cheap out in the country.
Frankly, I don’t believe that Orillia’s boat launch or trailer parking bring much tourist money into the Orillia economy anyway. The trailers don’t spend money and the boaters and anglers are out on the lake, not in shops and restaurants. Boaters spend most of their money before they get to Orillia.
But I have an idea for a solution to the boaters’ dilemma: on the north shore of Lake Simcoe there is a massive parcel of undeveloped waterfront land, owned by the province, sitting idle and costing Ontario and Orillia taxpayers millions every year in maintenance costs and foregone tax revenues. With creative and innovative development this land could satisfy many needs, from housing, to employment, to conservation, to recreation, and to public lake access.
Of course that would require government leaders with vision. Don’t hold your breath. Under Doug Ford it’s more likely to be developed as a private spa.
So, gentlemen, instead of railing against selfish Orillia taxpayers, and threatening to take your business elsewhere, why don’t you give your local councils or MPPs a call and ask what they are doing to help you out?
Mark Elgar
Orillia
