City councillors, after some spirited debate, officially ratified a new masterplan for the waterfront Monday night.
The “bold” plan was unveiled at a council committee meeting last week. It includes a series of recommendations that could be implemented over the next several years at Couchiching Beach Park, Centennial Park and Veterans’ Park.
Since the details were unveiled, there has been an “outcry” in the community about some of the ideas such as the recommendation to close the Terry Fox Circle to vehicular traffic to create a pedestrian-friendly area.
Coun. Pat Hehn stressed Monday night that each component of the plan would be subject to debate during subsequent budget deliberations and may or may not become reality.
She urged her council colleagues to support a preamble to the motion noting “certain aspects of the report may be changed at the time of implementation.”
Mayor Steve Clarke noted such a preamble “would not be harmful,” but noted a similar caveat was already “embedded” in the motion and it is “exactly the intent” of the motion that each component would come to council for consideration.
Coun. Ted Emond agreed.
“Accepting this report in principle does not commit us to do anything that is in the report,” he said. “It lays out a model for the future.”
He said it would be up to this and subsequent councillors to weigh the history in addition to the current and future needs of the community when making decisions.
“Yes, there’s been an outcry in the community about elements of (the plan),” he conceded, but stressed “staff will be bringing to the budget process” in future years various elements.
But Coun. Tim Lauer, the only councillor who ultimately voted against the motion, disagreed.
“I have a lot of problems with the idea of approving this in principle,” said Lauer. “I disagree completely with the notion that this has no effect. It essentially sends staff on their way to create budgets, include it in 10-year plans, to prioritize” elements.
He said since the plan details were released, he has heard “significant concerns expressed about the loss of Terry Fox Circle, the skate park, the amount of parking, the skate trail and, certainly, the boat launch in particular.”
He said he has had “discussions with other councillors that think we could probably find a better location for that particular function. I see it as a significant safety issue,” said Lauer.
“I really question using up that much space putting that much stress on a park that is so small and this is a small park; it’s very narrow,” he said.
Lauer said he has “many reservations” about investing staff time and energy into the plan and also has safety concerns.
“I think it’s a little premature to approve it in principle, just assuming it doesn’t mean anything and that’s what it’s sounding like,” he said.
He said council and staff should spend time “drilling into each component” and “put something out that maybe represents a little bit more what this council thinks and would like to recommend.”
Emond said he is “totally opposed” to that. He said this plan is like other plans the city has developed - he cited the Tudhope Park Masterplan as an example - that lay out a vision for council but doesn’t commit council to each component.
He said some citizens are upset with this plan because “it touches a very sacred part of our city.”
However, he said it is council’s responsibility to “make decisions for the 10-15,000 people who are going to be living here who don’t live here today.” He also noted “there will be ample opportunity” to debate each element “going forward.”
Ultimately, his colleagues agreed as all but Lauer supported the plan, in principle, without the preamble floated by Hehn.
It’s expected some elements of the plan will be discussed later this year as part of the 2021 budget deliberations.
