To: Town of Midland Council

The residents of Lakewood Drive request that the property located at 349 Lakewood Drive, Midland, ON, currently owned by the town of Midland, be permanently designated as a public park, providing public access to the shore of Georgian Bay.

The property has fulfilled this purpose since our street was developed many years ago while our area was part of Tay Township and was later ceded to the Town of Midland. It continues to be regularly enjoyed by residents and visitors to access Georgian Bay, not to mention the abundant wild life that frequents it.

The cost to the town of Midland to maintain the property has certainly been minimal to none, as local residents maintain the narrow trail that leads from the street to the small rocky beach by the water. We are not asking for any change or enhancement to the property, which should be left as is. No need for parking spaces or added amenities. A sign with liability disclaimer might be all that is needed.

There is precedent within the town for the existence of such a miniature park providing public water access.  Sunrise Park at the bottom of Curry Road caters to non-water-front residents in an adjacent neighborhood.

A recent staff report to council that recommends council declare this property as surplus to be disposed of for development omitted to mention a number of points that should have been raised by the town planning department, namely:

1. The land use designation of the property is NHS "Natural Heritage System" in the Town and County's Official Plan. NHS is governed by provincial policy; a change to this designation will require changes to the town's Official Plan, which will entail getting an endorsement at County level, commissioning an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and a Species at Risk (SAR) screening exercise, knowing also that the property shoreline is designated as a "Highly Vulnerable Aquifer".
2. The area of the 349 Lakewood property is about 1800 square meters, representing about 2% of the 83,000 square meter neighborhood that was subdivided and developed years ago. Provincial Planning Regulations require that 5% of an area being divided for development be maintained in a natural state. Other than privately owned lots that have been kept undeveloped, this is the only site in the Lakewood Drive neighborhood that has been kept in its natural state. We doubt that municipalities have the liberty to cash out such natural sites for development.
3. The property features a large drainage ditch that takes water from the Lakewood Drive roadside ditch to the bay. It is doubtful that such a ditch can be eliminated or relocated and mitigation options might still leave a large portion of the property as unsuitable for development.
4. The residents of Lakewood Drive have repeatedly stood firm in their beliefs that this property should be kept for public water access by communicating this position in large numbers at each of the previous attempts by the town to sell the property.

We hereby ask council to permanently solve this issue by designating this property as a park. This will eliminate once and for all any uncertainty in  regards to public access to water and avoid further wasteful debate for town council and staff.

Thank you. 

 
Germain Proulx
germainproulx@gmail.com
416-907-0915

Short video of what 349 looks like: