Leave your tent at home, use your barbecues in designated areas and pay attention to parking rules if you plan to visit Innisfil Beach Park this summer.
That's the message the Town of Innisfl has for "outsiders" heading to the popular beach area at the end of the 8th Line.
Additional parking, stronger bylaw enforcement and higher day-use fees are coming to Innisfil Beach Park this summer, in an effort to reduce complaints from residents.
A new bylaw is expected to be passed in time for the May long weekend, prohibiting closed-sided tents from the park. Large sun umbrellas will still be permitted.
John Stewart lives just a few houses away from the beach-front park and he says he is concerned about the way the park is managed, especially on busy long weekends.
"Heavy usage of the park during the summer months has had a serious impact on myself and my neighbours," he said.
"There is the noise, rude behavior by people illegally parked, the dirt and filth left behind by day users, busloads of visitors that are dropped off at the park.
“You know the issues”
Stewart's driveway was behind a parking barricade last summer and he says he was "tormented by the people trying to get into the park."
"The filth I see on Sunday and Monday mornings, including human excrement, used syringes, liquor bottles ... it's just terrible."
He encouraged councillors to make changes that would "make the park a safe and friendly place to come."
“It is a residents’ park. it’s not a Toronto or a York Region park.”
Operations manager Jason Inwood, community standards manager Danny Rodgers and Manager of Economic & Community Development Marc Seguin presented the report at a Council meeting this week.
Public input and suggestions were included in recommendations to spend about $1.5 million on improvements.
“We will continually be faced with new and complex challenges,” says Marc Seguin, in a report to Council details. “Town staff is committed to finding new and interactive ways to encourage visitors to not only enjoy our park, but to enjoy everything our town has to offer.”
The park attracts thousands of new visitors each summer, many from York Region and the Greater Toronto Area.
Overcrowding on weekends in past years has left Innisfil residents angry and demanding changes.
The town has decided to triple its weekend bylaw enforcement from two to six officers this year.
Also, an extra 22 resident-only parking spaces have been added, bringing the total to 120 and parking reserved for residents will be moved to lots D and G - situated closer to the main beach area.
Other initiatives include:
- overflow parking northwest of the works building, a plan that was put into place last Labour Day weekend when record numbers attended the park
- charging $10 per bus passenger instead of $45 per bus; creating revenue from non-residents;
- Parking is also being increased at the public boat launch following complaints last year. However, construction of additional boat launch parking won’t be completed until the fall.
- Playground equipment will be relocated to make room for the extra parking this summer.
The town also plans to add docks at the boat launch area by the end of June, and visitors will be charged $10 to use the area.
Three area of the park will be designated as barbecue zones, to keep smoke and cooking odours away from the beach area.
Improvements are expected to continue after 2016, with the possibility of a band shell for events.
