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City asking neighbouring municipalities to pay for summer parking at Orillia parks

Council hopes decision will prevent backlash from last year, when all non-residents faced daily fee to park on weekends, holidays

Residents of surrounding municipalities might not have to pay to visit Orillia’s parks this summer, but it will depend on their respective councils getting on board with the plan.

Last year, city council implemented a short-term waterfront parking program that required all non-residents to pay a $50 daily fee to park at Couchiching Beach and Tudhope parks. The move was meant to discourage people from travelling to Orillia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That decision prompted plenty of backlash, particularly from residents of neighbouring municipalities, many of whom saw it as an insult as they worked, shopped and volunteered in Orillia.

During a meeting Monday, council voted to bring the program back this summer, with some changes.

It will include Chippewas of Rama First Nation and the townships of Oro-Medonte, Ramara and Severn, but there’s a catch. Those residents’ municipalities must look after the issuing of permits to be displayed on their vehicles when they’re in Orillia

“The onus is on them as opposed to City of Orillia staff,” explained city CAO Gayle Jackson.

Council tacked on another caveat: The decision to include those residents in the program is contingent on a financial contribution from each municipality of 50 cents for each of their residents.

Coun. Ted Emond said there are “significant costs that we incur to maintain our parks,” including waste collection and bylaw enforcement.

“If they want to have access to Orillia, contribute more than a simple municipal pass. They have to make a contribution to this summer’s program,” he said. “That then puts the onus on them as to whether their residents can or cannot come into Orillia.”

Coun. Tim Lauer pointed out the goal of the program last year was to deter visitors and, ultimately, slow the spread of COVID-19.

“I can see somebody supporting this just out of the goodness of their heart, but I don’t understand this argument that people shop in Orillia and that somehow tips the scales,” he said, adding he remained in favour of providing free parking passes to Orillia residents only.

“We are the ones with the problem. We are trying to solve a problem that arrived on our doorstep last year of overcrowding.”

Coun. Mason Ainsworth spoke against asking Orillia’s neighbours for a financial contribution.

“Do we want to start paying these municipalities as well?” he asked.

He also said the point of the program was to make neighbouring residents feel welcome here, but not to encourage them to come to town.

“We’re not reaching out to them, saying, ‘Hey, come to Orillia,’” he said.

If the municipalities choose to not pay the 50 cents per resident, their residents will still be welcome to visit, but they’ll have to pay the city’s daily $50 fee to park or use boat launches.

The vote on the financial contribution was approved after Mayor Steve Clarke broke a tie, siding with Emond, Lauer and councillors Pat Hehn and Robert Kloostra.

Council had to pass a number of motions related to the waterfront parking/boat launch program. One included identifying the purpose of the program and what council wanted it to accomplish.

“I’m not sure that we will be out of the pandemic … and we need to be prepared. Even if we are, I think there will still be a crush of individuals” visiting local parks, said Emond.

Most councillors had similar reasoning and determined the point of the program was to ensure the health and safety of the community, manage crowd control, and discourage travel to Orillia from more restrictive COVID-19 colour zones.

“It’s really important to limit the overcrowding in our parks and this could certainly do that,” Hehn said.

Staff asked if councillors wanted the program to apply to the same spots as it did last year: Couchiching Beach and Tudhope parks. After a couple of other parks were suggested, it was decided the program would apply to “essentially the same” locations as last year’s and “other miscellaneous locations as required.”

Reviving the program will come at a cost.

Council approved a “starting budget” of $150,000 to be pulled from the tax rate stabilization reserve. That will cover marketing and promotion as well as the hiring of a manager to oversee the program. It will also be used to hire up to three seasonal municipal bylaw enforcement officers, as council is asking for “prominent and proactive” enforcement this summer.

Those hoping to use barbecues in city parks will be out of luck. Their use was “problematic” in 2020, staff stated in a report.

Fire Chief Brent Thomas said that was particularly true for charcoal barbecues. Without having appropriate disposal containers, charcoal was sometimes dumped on the ground or buried in a small hole, which resulted in some grass and tree fires, he explained.

Ainsworth suggested the ban apply to charcoal barbecues only, but none of his council colleagues would second his motion to make that amendment. He was the only one to vote against the barbecue ban.

The 2021 waterfront parking/boat launch program will run from approximately June 1 to Sept. 15 and will be in effect on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays. That could change depending on how everything goes this summer with the pandemic.

“We do know that there is a vaccination program going on full force, but what that will ultimately mean for our community this summer is a question mark,” Jackson said.


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Nathan Taylor

About the Author: Nathan Taylor

Nathan Taylor is the desk editor for Village Media's central Ontario news desk in Simcoe County and Newmarket.
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