Getting out on Orillia’s waterways may soon come with a price tag for Sunshine City visitors who want to park their boat trailers at lots near the city's municipal boat launches.
At the April 3 council meeting, city politicians will vote on a bylaw that proposes a $10 per hour rate, up to $50 per day, for boat launch trailer parking at the Couchiching Beach lot and Collins Drive parking lot.
Orillia politicians approved introducing parking fees during the 2023 budget process, signalling the end of free trailer parking at the city's waterfront.
The fees will not apply to Orillia residents, who will be able to print off a free permit from the city's website.
On March 13, the city’s parking advisory committee recommended the proposed rate after considering fees in neighbouring communities, which are as follows:
- Township of Severn: No charge
- Township of Oro-Medonte: $20 flat rate per day
- Wasaga Beach: $6 per hour, up to $25 per day
- Town of Innisfil: $10 per hour, up to $50 per day
- Barrie: $10 per hour, up $50 per day, plus a $10 launching fee
- Township of Ramara: $5 per hour, up to $80 per day
The rate, if approved, will apply between May 15 and Oct. 15, and will be subject to re-evaluation at a later date, city staff said in a recent memo circulated to council.
On top of the fee, a part of the extensive work planned along Centennial Drive includes the development of a new boat launch parking area, which will see the number of parking spaces drop from 108 to 84.
Allan Lafontaine, executive director at the Orillia District Chamber of Commerce, said he is more concerned about dwindling parking availability than the introduction of parking fees.
“Our biggest problem is parking. I don't care if it's downtown, or at the waterfront. We really don't have enough spaces,” Lafontaine said. “That lack of parking, overall, is going to be the biggest challenge, so I don't think $50 is really the key issue here – it's (that) we need more space.”
In their memo to council, Orillia city staff said encouraging parking turnover is among the reasons for introducing the fee, but Lafontaine hopes to see the city consider alternative methods of increasing the parking inventory for boaters.
“I think the city's talked about off-site storage or offsite place for boats and then a shuttle back down. I think that's what we have to look at if we don't have enough parking down there,” he said.
Building underground parking, a parking garage, and utilizing city transit as a means of getting to the waterfront are ideas Lafontaine suggested.
City council approved, in concept, a $30-million multi-level parking garage and transit hub for Peter Street in 2020. Earlier this week, Mayor Don McIsaac suggested that might not be the best approach for the city.
“We need to build a parkade downtown. There's another thing that would solve all this,” Lafontaine said. “Maybe the city sells the parking lot behind Mariposa, and builds an underground/above ground parking parkade that can solve our issues."
Lafontaine said he supports the development taking place along the waterfront, but hopes to see much-needed solutions to the city’s parking problems before it impacts the local economy.
Due to the way the boat launch is being reconstructed, Lafontaine also expressed concern that larger boats may have a difficult time launching.
He said he would like to see the city conduct a study on what boat sizes will be able to launch under the new design, and on the potential economic impacts of the changes.
“I think it's going to limit the size of boats, so I just want to make sure that we've done a study (on) every boat size to make sure that we (don’t have) unintended consequences,” he said.
“And then what will the parking mean? It may or may not be an impact, but I’d just like to see something, a little bit of a study.”
Lafontaine said numerous people use Orillia’s boat launch for longer trips, either out to Georgian Bay or as far as Parry Sound, and noted they were able to freely park their trailers at the Orillia boat launch during round trips in the past.
Before moving to Orillia in 2014, Lafontaine himself used to travel regularly to Orillia to make use of the city’s coveted waterways, which provide access to the Trent-Severn Waterway.
Given the proposed fees and dwindling parking availability, he hopes people will come to Orillia through the water – though he expressed concern they may go elsewhere.
“That's our hope, that people still come to a Orillia by water and just choose a different place to put their boat at,” he said. “My concern is … that they hit Peterborough or Midland and bypass Orillia altogether.”
