After being inundated with public feedback, the Township of Georgian Bay, Ont. has decided to defer its paid parking pilot project until after staff have had a chance to confer with affected cottagers.
During Monday’s meeting, council heard from several residents about the paid parking pilot project, and ultimately decided there were still details that needed to be considered before implementing the project.
The township had planned to launch the project this summer, introducing paid parking at the Minors Bay, Vollicks Road, and Wauwatosa municipal parking lots. Historically these lots were free to park in, and are often used by water-access cottagers on Go Home Lake and Six Mile Lake to store vehicles, as well as visitors camping, fishing, and boating in the area. But last year, the township performed an audit of its assets, identifying any potential revenue opportunities. The three parking lots were flagged as possible revenue generators.
The township was also looking for strategies to control costs associated with campers who used the lots as jumping-off points to stay overnight on Crown land. These visitors caused an increase in the amount of litter left at garbage sites around the parking lots, forcing the township to empty them more frequently than other sites.
As it stands, the proposed paid parking pilot project would charge anyone using the lots $20 to park a vehicle for the day, $40 for a vehicle and trailer for the day, $65 for a vehicle for the week, $130 for a vehicle and trailer for the week, or $300 for a seasonal pass.
Staff determined these rates by analyzing the cost of parking at seven of the township’s marinas, concluding that its parking rate shouldn’t cost less than the marinas as this could take customers away from the local businesses. Staff also stipulated that each township resident would be provided one free parking pass associated with the licence plate of their vehicle and have the option to buy more seasonal passes for $300.
Cottagers, however, didn’t take kindly to the proposed fees. During the Monday meeting, one cottager pointed out that he owned his property along with five siblings. By only providing one free pass, several of the siblings would have to pay to park their vehicles while visiting their cottage.
A second cottager on Six Mile Lake explained that they paid for a parking spot at a local marina. However, the number of available marinas in the area had shrunk from five to two over the last few years, limiting the number of spaces and increasing competition for parking. Many of the cottagers also pointed out that they relied on the free lots for guests and extended family to park their vehicles when visiting.
Go Home Lake Cottage Owners’ Association president, Geoff Hogan, said over the phone that he wasn’t opposed to the idea of paid parking in the lots, but felt the township had rushed into the project without considering all of the details.
“I’m actually a big fan of user pay. The user should fund municipal services, not the general tax base, so I was pretty comfortable with what they were suggesting,” Hogan said. “But what the residents are most upset about is that they will be issued one free pass for a car tied to a licence plate, and then they can purchase one more tied to a licence plate.”
The township has decided to use Honk Mobile, a private company, to handle the paid parking. Honk Mobile’s system requires the resident’s one free pass to be associated with a licence plate, meaning it can’t be transferred to guests or even the owner’s second vehicle.
Most water-access cottagers in the area pay for a parking spot at one of the marinas, so Hogan suggested that guests park in the resident’s spot at the marina while the resident uses their free parking pass to park in the lot. But this only addresses one additional car.
The other issue is space. The lots aren’t big enough to accommodate all of the users. Hogan estimated that the Minors Bay lot could fit around 300 cars, yet there are approximately 325 water-access cottages on Go Home Lake—and this doesn’t include any visitors coming to camp. Plus, residents wouldn’t receive a reserved spot, meaning they could pay for an additional seasonal parking pass but if they showed up late on a Friday night and the lot was full, they’d be out of luck.
The township has looked into expanding the lots but most back onto the Canadian Shield, requiring dynamite to expand. According to councillor Allan Hazelton, it would cost between $300,000 to $400,000 of rock blasting to create another 20 spots.
Because of these details, Hogan has asked the township to delay the project until at least September. “Our stance as a cottage association is that we haven’t had enough time since the details of the bylaw have been released to even pool our members to think about what the proper outcome would be and provide feedback to the municipality,” Hogan said. “So, what we have asked them to do is delay the vote and form a committee between some staff members and a cottage association representative.”
During the Monday meeting, council acknowledged Hogan’s advice, delaying the launch of the paid parking until after consultation with the cottage associations. However, regardless of the delay, council remains split on the issue. Councillors Steven Predko and Kristian Graziano asked staff to find a way to exempt residents and their guests from paying for parking in the lots, while councillors Peter Cooper and Brian Bocheck argued that exempting this group of cottagers from paying wouldn’t be fair to other township residents who have to pay for parking in their area.
The discussion ended with Brad Sokach, the township’s director of operations, saying he would meet with the two cottage associations to see if there was a compromise they could bring back to council.
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