A Ramara Township resident hopes to make waves about the township's measures to control parking at the Poplar Road boat launch.
Resident Phil Brain, who splits his time between Ramara and Sarnia, has historically made use of the boat launch — which is near a cottage his family owned for 70 years — to go kayaking.
However, following a boom in outdoor activity through the pandemic, the small boat launch has signage listing a 10-minute maximum parking rule, and the road leading up the launch now has no parking signs on either side.
“I don't think anybody really knew, except for locals, about this boat launch — it really is a little hollow — but we just saw the bad side of people in COVID, unfortunately,” Brain told OrilliaMatters.
Through the pandemic, Brain said the area had people parking up and down the streets, sometimes on people’s lawns.
“But those people are gone now, for the most part. They've slid away somewhere else,” he said. “I didn't go (back again) until last year. I went down there, and on both sides, everywhere you go: no parking, no parking, no parking. You can't do that.”
Brain said the parking issues have been compounded by a dispute over ownership on the lot, as well, where private groups have stated they own a section of the small area.
“This is a public launch, and they're telling us it's private,” he said. “You get people who come in from wherever, and all of a sudden they're trying to take over and (say), ‘This is mine.’”
Brain noted that Ramara residents, such as himself, have been able to access some parking opportunities through permits issued by the township, but he wishes to see the areas returned to their former state, where all people were free to come and go as they pleased.
He said the issue of parking has expanded well beyond the Poplar Road boat launch.
“Put it back to where it should be, but not just here — everywhere,” he said. “Why is Little Falls closed off? I'm pretty certain that's a heritage bridge. Why, all of a sudden, is that access cut off? Lagoon City, you can't park along the roads … to go to wherever without a permit.
“That's the other part, is that unless you're from that area and paying taxes, you can't use this program,” he said.
In the case of the Poplar Road boat launch, Mayor Basil Clarke said the township is currently working on a title search to determine land ownership in the lot.
“We're trying to determine how much we own,” Clarke told OrilliaMatters. “If we own it all, we can make more parking spots. If we don't, then we can't, so we're doing a title search on it right now.”
Clarke said the parking, along with the road allowance, previously worked for local traffic, but increased traffic through COVID has led to the rules in place now.
The boat launch was previously listed as a tourism destination for kayaking, which has since been removed from the map, he said.
“A 66-foot road allowance, with limited parking, is fine for the locals, but it was never designed to be a public park,” he said. "It couldn’t accommodate the numbers of people that were coming, so that’s when we really had to put the parking in place.”
As the issue spread to other areas in the township, as Brain pointed out, Clarke said it became necessary to implement measures that curb parking.
“We’re trying to incorporate enough parking for the locals without actually saying ‘local parking only.’ You can’t do that — a public road is a public road,” he said.
“We do have places in the township that are now marked where we put up parking passes, so locals can park free (and) out-of-towners have to pay, simply because we don’t have enough parking to accommodate everybody.”
