The city's beaches were front and centre at a special council meeting Monday night in an effort to avoid overcrowding as the province continues to loosen restrictions related to COVID-19.
Although council was on its traditional summer break, the meeting was called to discuss what Mayor Jeff Lehman called "a wide variety of views" around whether any additional parking restrictions should be added for Barrie's waterfront areas.
After lengthy discussions, council implemented resident-only parking in the area around Wilkins Beach, which will include more signs and restrictions on local streets within 500 metres of the park, which has made headlines in recent days.
"Wilkins Walk and (Wilkins) Beach were never designed to be a public beach," said Lehman, noting there's no parking lot, no washrooms, and only limited garbage facilities. "If these parking restrictions can help ease the problems that are being experienced at Wilkins Beach, then I'm in support of them."
Council recently made changes to parking in waterfront lots and there have also been issues raised at Wilkins Beach, a small swimming area in the city's south end that has been subjected to overcrowding as well as parking and environmental concerns. Similar worries have been raised for Tyndale Park and Minet's Point, which are also located in residential areas.
Resident waterfront parking pass-only designations will also be extended to Vespra Street from Bradford to Innisfil streets; Victoria Street between Innisfil and Sanford streets; John Street from Sanford to Ellen streets; Vespra Street from Sanford to John streets; and Ellen Street south of Victoria Street, on the west side.
Similar parking restrictions will also be implemented on side streets around Minet's Point, Tyndale Park, Johnson's Beach, and in the Dock Road area.
"These neighbourhoods weren't built for the volumes we're experiencing," said Coun. Jim Harris, who also noted emergency access to the Minet's Point beach area. "It's really treacherous getting through there."
The new designations will remain in effect until Oct. 15, when a full report on the city's parking strategy will come to council.
Putting up temporary signs to notify people of the changes in those areas will cost just over $42,000.
The Lakeshore, North Marina, and Spirit Catcher parking lots will also be reclassified as waterfront lots, resulting in an increase to $10 hourly for non-residents, or $50 for the whole day. Coun. Mike McCann said the new classification will create more consistency around the waterfront.
Lehman noted there are still delays in getting waterfront passes out to residents due to volume.
Earlier in the day, the province announced several districts, including Barrie in Simcoe-Muskoka, will enter Stage 3 of reopening beginning Friday. This will allow for gatherings of up to 100 people outdoors, which includes Barrie parks.
There has been no evidence of spikes in community transmission related to COVID-19 since beaches reopened about a month ago, City of Barrie CAO Michael Prowse said in a presentation to council at the start of the meeting.
There was also discussion around possibly restricting beach access for non-residents, which Prowse said would be "problematic."
Ingrid Peters, the city's director of legal services, said there's "no straightforward, simple answer" when it comes to potentially banning non-residents from local beaches. She said there's no legislation that prohibits a municipality from doing so, but someone would have to challenge it in court.
"There number of ways that could manifest itself are endless," said Peters, adding it would be up to a judge at that point to decide on the issue.
Peters also confirmed bylaw officers do not have the power to affirm a person's place of residency.
The city also has so-called "park ambassadors" to answer any questions or address any concerns beach-goers may have. They do not, however, have the ability to issue tickets.
