By John Francis
Facebook and Instagram (and, for all I know, TikTok) are seething with scandal about the crowds at all our favourite places. They are crowded every day but Saturdays are just nuts.
There were nearly 200 cars parked on Moore Street in Lion’s Head one Saturday, with all the occupants heading out to Lion’s Head lookout to get the same selfie.
There were nearly 300 cars parked on Little Cove Road near Tobermory, all the occupants heading down to the rocky national park shore at Little Cove. Close the parking on Little Cove Road and they all park across the highway on Warner Bay Road and walk from there.
There are 100 cars or so parked on Big Tub Road in Tobermory, to get access to the shoreline at the lighthouse.
And there are record numbers of people walking around Lion’s Head and near-record numbers walking around Tobermory (although merchants assure me that they aren’t buying anything…)
All of this without tour buses. (OK, there was one tour bus, illegally parked on Highway 6 in Tobermory, but I digress…)
And Sandy Beach is always a zoo on a summer Saturday.
But there’s always somewhere you can go to avoid the crowds, right? Like Cape Chin South? Maybe not so much anymore.
Rich and Sandra Moccia of Cape Chin South submitted a brief to MNBP Council for the Aug 24 Meeting; here is an excerpt:
“We are writing to express our deep disappointment with the municipal government’s response to the emerging issues surrounding public access and use of the fire route and adjacent property at 60 Carter Road, South Cape Chin. As taxpayers and residents on Carter Road for the last 11 years, we have experienced the continual deterioration and misuse of this property, and have a deep concern for the inevitable increase in conflicts and hazards associated with these problems.
Until recent years, the property has been largely used by local residents for swimming as well as for launching kayaks or canoes to paddle the pristine shoreline. However, over the last 5 years, and especially the last few summer seasons, the predominant users are now tourists who come from outside the area, region or even the province. The property use has intensified significantly in recent years, and it is now becoming overwhelmed with inappropriate and potentially dangerous activities. In recent weeks for example, literally dozens of people have been observed there at one time. Campfires and BBQ pits are being lit, in direct defiance of the existing signage, presenting a significant fire hazard to the area.
As well, many people have attempted overnight camping with trailers and tents, again in violation of signage which clearly indicates no overnight stays. Equally concerning is the use of the adjacent bush for urination and defecation for people and their pets (since no washrooms are anywhere nearby), and this presents obvious human health hazards, and is highly unsanitary at best, especially considering that the property is immediately adjacent to private homes and their water intakes. And although I have not observed it myself, I am told that some incidents have occurred where black water waste tanks were dumped from trailers into the bay, as well as there being unregulated harvesting of shore stone. These are all inappropriate and unintended uses of the property, and this behaviour is escalating rapidly now that the populated regions of Ontario have ‘Discovered the Bruce Peninsula’.”
MNBP Bylaw Enforcement has had a problem finding and keeping employees in recent years. That makes it very difficult to enforce bylaws…
In a recent conversation, MNBP Mayor Milt McIver spoke on behalf of the municipality; he told me “We need to have a discussion this fall and winter with all the stakeholders — to brainstorm about how to deal with this: too many people are coming here, more people than we can accommodate…”
I am just jump-starting that conversation. How do we deal with too many people?
Muskoka has it figured out: “Welcome to Muskoka — Private Property, No Trespassing”. But with our national and provincial parks, we don’t have that option.
So what options DO we have?
One option that is promoted a lot on Facebook is to open more national park shoreline to the public. I would like to suggest that this would not solve the problem; it would only kick it down the road by a year. Or 17 minutes…
Say they open Driftwood Cove. Say 250 people on the beach, plus 125 walking in from the parking lot and another 125 walking out. That’s 500 people total.
I counted cars coming in to Tobermory around noon on Saturday, August 22. It varied a bit but averaged ten cars per minute. At 3 people per car (and I think that’s low; there were a lot of minivans) that works out to 1,800 people per hour. So opening Driftwood would delay things by… 500 people at 1,800 per hour is 17 minutes.
Not a solution.
Councillor Megan Myles suggests we charge a parking fee at more locations than just Tobermory. Amen.
Moore Street resident David Rodgers says we need a managed solution, with visitor centres and controlled access. Amen to that too.
But where would the money come from? How about $20 a day paid parking everywhere in the municipality? Then we could pay bylaw enforcement personnel enough that they could afford to live here.
Stay tuned.
