Life’s a beach

Parking fee now in place at Wellington beach

It’s far from a new issue, but Wellington’s beach and boat launch were at the top of council’s discussion last week. This year, the municipality decided to close the Beach Street boat launch to all motorized boats, leaving only the Belleville Street launch to use. This has created a bit of chaos, as just last weekend, more than 150 boaters were all trying to navigate backing in off Main Street to launch and retrieve their boats. Two County staff members have been on site constantly, trying to deal with the congestion. Local business owners are also saying the boat launch is causing a drop in business in the immediate area.

Councillor Mike Harper told the horseshoe that it was disappointing to have to take a step backwards, but rising tensions, health and safety issues, and an influx of traffic issues make it a necessity. “It’s with regret that I think we have to take a step backwards and consider opening the beach [launch] again until we figure out the right steps to move forward. The question isn’t what Wellington boat launch is best, but what place is best for access to West Lake,” said Harper. He mentioned that even on a Tuesday, the launch was chaotic. “Staff’s instinct to have this beach boat launch transfer to personal water craft is the right thing to do. It’s just we didn’t see the limits of the Belleville Street boat launch, and the heavy staff resources needed to keep it working smoothly,” said Harper.

Harper is recommending charging beach goers, as well as boaters, a $20 flat fee on weekends and holidays to gain access. Staff will be positioned at the foot of Beach Street, to collect the fee, and count the number of vehicles coming in and out. The thought is that locals will take advantage of the beach through the week without the fee.

CAO Marcia Wallace explained that it is clear a change needed to be made. “We are putting a lot of resources into enforcement and failing in the beach area in overcrowded situations.” She explained that by only letting enough cars in for the number of parking spots still allows beachgoers to be physically distant.

The new toll booth that will be open on weekends and holidays at the foot of Beach Street in Wellington.

Not all councillors were on board. Andreas Bolik and Janice Maynard believed the right thing to do was to close both launches for the summer. “I’m going to propose a less expensive and less complex option,” said Bolik. “As we know very well we are in a pandemic, and the big problem is due to volume.” Bolik said that weekend after weekend there are far too many people gathering at the beach, and that congestion is going to be an ongoing issue. “I would suggest we just close both launches for the summer. We have no real requirement to have those launches open right now. This will certainly make enforcement easier, and traffic management less expensive,” he added.

Harper heard the comments, but said council and staff need to learn from the issues. “The reality is we have never had management in place. It has festered for years and now it has become a problem. I don’t think we need to react in that way. There are peak times of the week it is a problem. We have a learning opportunity here if we can do this right.” Harper told council that a proper beach study is needed. “We need to collect some data here to know what is going on. We don’t know how many people. How many trucks. If they are locals. We know nothing. We really can’t plan unless we allow this to unfold, gather some information and manage the beach.”

Councillor Jamie Forrester agreed that closing the launches would only result in other problems. “If you shut it down totally you will just divert boaters to other small lakes. They will be at Kleinsteuber Parks, or they will come to East Lake and we only have one launch there as well.”

County staff will be collecting data at Wellington Beach, such as visitors postal codes, in an attempt to learn about and implement a strategic plan. A staff report is expected on the long-term management and the temporary parking by-law to charge for parking was approved.