If all the supporters of paid parking can do is bully and give circular exuses for this ripoff that even hurts locals. Then that alone shows it is a bad idea

--Chris

I agree. It is entertaining to read your troll posts "anonymous". Given you are a coward that hides behind a computer screen and for this "idea" again shows how terrible it is to charge for something we have already paid for.

I know that you are angry and your buttons are being pushed because of your emotional responses and lack of logic and facts. Again that does make you entertaining and entertaining for other readers as well I am sure. You pay taxes and get your tag while others are forced to give up their private information and forced to pay for your private beach. Why should anyone pay when EVERYONE pays already through taxes at all levels for your private beach? That is the bottom line. If we all pay then it is public and no one then can restrict access to who can use it or not.

The city has an obligation to its voting public so as it is reaching 500 votes that indicates that the majority already think that free parking is nessery.

So they do have to look at it. So thanks but no thanks and thank you for the entertaining laughs and your posts to help prove why free parking is a must and paid parking is a failed idea. Agree your posts have been more entertaining than Facebook as well. Thanks again

It was reported in the news that Centennial has a Bacteria break out. That is on top of the waste being pumped in from the water treatment plant and the mercury before it. Yet you expect people to pay money for this?

When it was free, it was understandable. You will be hard pressed to find anyone who will agree to PAY for a substandard beach

This service says that an idea needs 500 votes before it levels up. Out of all the ideas here, it is the hottest one and has the most votes. That is out of the entire population that does not even know that this place even exist and those that do show that this is the most popular idea. I noticed again that only you and Carl are responding yet again and the rest of us, the majority, are voting it up.

You have no stats to back up YOUR claim to show that this is a success. I have proof just be mere actions of the population. It is your burdon of proof because YOU want this implemented against the majority who think it is a bad idea. The same majority that will head out and go to a FREE beach, hence the busy 400 traffic, and avoid their paid for use beach in their own back yard.

Of course many will not if they don't want to go to the lake. But that also means you cannot tax us for the beach. You cannot call it a public beach if you charge for it like it is a private service. You cannot force people to pay for a service. That is fraud. Yes. I bet and you are welcome that I and the majority pay for you to enjoy the lake with your hand out.

No I live in Barrie so your ASSumption does not go very far lol.

Carl. Where do I get my information. Its easy. Because you can see it with your own two eyes. People are avoiding the area and they are not even enforcing it yet. Already traffic is down. Where is your proof that charging for paid parking is a success? Both residents in Innisfill and Toronto travel North for a reason and the highway proves this. If it was a success they would stay where they were and the highway would not be so busy and we wouldn't have had such busy festivals before this was implemented. There is plenty as Barrie is really the same size as any other "city" north of it that has a beach and guess what. It is free so not much of a challenge there lol. We only have less than a 140k with a push. We are hardly a metropolis like Vaughn, Mississauga or Toronto.

No Carl. Just because a town "gets" to a "certain size" does not mean they charge for parking. Huntsville has plenty of good free swimming and they are the same size as us during the summer season. Me thinks you do not google so well.

Well lucky we are not in a high populated area so your "facts" are not facts at all as we do have more than enough resources. Barrie alone has at least 4 Beaches. Out of the 4, only one is "free" to the locals, the rest are paid parking be it local or not. That to me is a scam.

Well. If you want to move, that is your choice. This place will be a town for many years to come due to its polices and governance. It will take a LOT to change on the way things are managed for this to suddenly become a city, including red tape that would have to be removed. However if you want to move, that is your choice

Mike where do you get your information from? Can you post an article or something that shows cities losing business when they start charging for parking?
I just did a google search and all cities once that get to a certain size charge for parking.
In fact I would even go as far to challenge you to find a city as big as Barrie that does not charge for parking. I am just glad that for now it is free to people who live in Barrie, because as the city grows we will see that change also, so everyone will pay, unfortunately.
Its just a fact of living in a high population centre with limited resources.
I know that my family will be moving to a smaller town in the future, when Barrie starts to look like Toronto.
I am sure if we could keep Barrie that small town we would.

You and Carl are the only ones for this. No one else is. As of today the vote is at 419 and climbing with many here, both residents and non residents showing opposition. The majority here should not have to pay for what a minority wants which is a private beach area. It is not. It is public as in all levels of government pay. As in no one has a choice in not paying. If you pay taxes in this great nation it pays the water front along with many other things and because of that you cannot dictate that people should pay a private fee for what is a public area. There is a reason why both innisfill and toronto are both failures at this

Yes, anonymous. The beach IS PUBLIC. So if you want to charge for parking the go ahead and pay for that water front with your own money. Make an offer. The city of Barrie is GOVERNMENT as in EVERYONE pays. That's how PUBLIC systems work. What private information. Your home address is PRIVATE information. So what if your license plate is on your car. It is what they can do or access the information. Just because ones license plate is on ones car does not mean you automatically get access to CPIC. Barrie residents should not have to jump through hoops or give out their PRIVATE information just to go to a beach. Nor should they be forced to pay for a PUBLIC beach if they refuse to give out such information. Yes one pays to go to wasaga beach. It is the longest fresh water beach in the world and it is CHEAPER than what Barrie is charging and because of that many, be it Barrie residents or not go to wasaga instead. Which amplifies my point that this scam is doing nothing but chasing visitors away. Insifill and Toronto has failed in their parking scheme, that is why they came to Barrie in the first place. Now they will go else where. Your excuses have been mentioned many times and each time an answer has been given. Just repeating yourself will not change the facts of how foolish paid parking is for that water front

If Carl and "anonymous" wants a private beach they can pay for it. As a tax payer of Barrie I should not be limited to two parking passes and have to give up my private information. It's time for the minority here to start paying their way and not expect a hand out from te rest of us!

So I guess my comment makes sense as everyone already pays for the water front and you expect a hand out. No wonder your comments make no sense

Carl. Every city that has done this has lost revenu. No wonder onl you and anonymous are for this and everyone else with normal intelligence is against it due to common sense. Why should anyone give you a hand out for a PUBLIC beach? You already get taxes from all of us. Time for you and anonymous to step up and pay for it if you believe in what YOU say

According to every city who has done this, they would say you make no sense. Anonymous is bang on, please start sending us money to pay our city taxes if you really believe what you say.

Anonymous. Your rant does not make any sense. By charging out of towners parking you are driving away revenu which will equal higher property taxes. Where as before they were currently the only source of income. So you are actually the one who wants to make all residents pay for a very narrow minded view that is no where close to actual reality.

No. Not all down towns pay for parking and those that do not have greater revenu generation than those that do. Yes, you are correct that it is a choice if people from innisfill want to shop here and it is because of that choice, they will not shop here any longer and that again means higher property taxes for the rest of us. But hay, if YOU want a private beach then how about you pay YOUR portion and buy the beach area like any other private land. Stop demanding a hand out from the rest of us residents so you can get a PUBLIC beach for free

Sarah. If what you said is true, then who keeps our stores busy in the summer, who spends their money on our lake front festivals? It certinly is not the locals. So, while a few may bring their bbqs, they also spend money on our local shops and festivals. Money now lost just because of a greedy minority who think people who are not residents are somehow cash cows.

Then, as a resident myself. I can only get two tags and that is it, on top of that I do not feel right handing over my personal information just so I can enjoy the waterfront to which you point out is paid through our tax dollars. So why is it as a resident I have to submit to this scheme?

You choose to pay for the innisfill beach which is proven to be a failed idea. That does not mean we should follow suit and jump off the cliff like the dodo bird just because they did.

Barrie residents already pay for waterfront usage through taxes. Why shouldn't visitors contribute to the upkeep and improvements of our waterfront? Contrary to what others have said, the visitors I see bring their own food, BBQ etc and do not contribute much to our economy. To the Innisfil resident who was complaining...I have to pay for the beach parking down there, why shouldn't you pay here?

The Jan. 27, 2014 paid parking for non residents is a bit much given that I live at the bottom of the 13th line in Innisfil. All my children go to school in Barrie, I work in Barrie, we buy all our groceries, gas, etc in Barrie, all of my children's activities are in Barrie-gymnastics, swimming, karate, dance, etc, we go out for dinner in Barrie, and we go to the library, arts centre, and PARKS in Barrie. The amount I contribute to the local economy of Barrie and to municipal facilities seems out of sorts with what I get back. These medieval boundaries seem unfair, and penalize surrounding communities dependent on Barrie as an urban core. Like it or not, we are part of 'your' community and should be treated as such, as opposed to 'outsiders' from the GTA.

Anonymous. How do you know the tourists do not utilize our shops and restaurants? If that was the case then why is it our promenade days are so successful and why is it that our ice cream shops are always full of tourists but I see no locals at any of our restaurants or shops and how do you know that it is the tourists leaving the garbage? That can easily be the locals too.

Parking should be free for residents as part of our high taxes in Barrie, I don't think from what I have seen that so called tourist utilize our shops and restaurants as most bring their own food and leave the rubbish behind! They should be charged like innisfil beach.

Imagine you own a house. You don't pay for the house, everyone does. You get the money from everyone. Now imagine, you spent all that money rather than on the bills on the house, then you start charging your guest a "fee" even though they have already paid through taxes.

It makes no sense. Now you loose the funding for your house as those guests who would be there would have bought you groceries. Now, they will go to another house because of that extra fee and we are left paying for those groceries or maintence on the house we simply cannot afford

Carl seems the only one who is a ok to make out of towners subsidize parking. Many others disagree and I do too.

A sticker does not tell if a car is from Barrie or not. Many people will not bother with the sticker and some people will not be able to figure the system out and why should they go through such hassles. We pay for the beach now we all have to get stickers for proof? I have a problem with this because of privacy issues too. Why should anyone know my private address? It's public space. I should not be the one who has to prove I live here or not.

Agree that Carl moved for the waterfront. We all have so that's probably why it is crowded today and if it is crowded then there are is already plenty of taxes collected to do what is needed. If not then it proved that there simply isn't enough growth yet and the beaches are actually NOT crowded.

I am not sure I understands Carl's position on taxes. We don't need a one tax system and as he reconizes, each town gets funding and then spends it how they see fit. That should tell you where the problem really lies. Which is not with anyone who is from Barrie or out of town. That is problems with the city itself and innisfill is a great example of paid parking for the beach not working.

Here are the facts.

The city is implementing a problem that other towns have made mistakes doing and where other cities have learned doesnt work and have removed such polices. See huntsville

Fact the city of Barrie is in financial debt. The information they have shown thus far along with exuses have all be disproven and shown to be false. "overcrowding" seem to be a festival thing and that is not often.

Paid parking has shown to keep parking away, see downtown. Thus it is not needed.

The studies and also proof with our current parking lots show that charging for parking is not the answer. FACT!

More interesting comments, sounds like commenters disagree with the city of Barrie, claiming there is an over crowding issue at the water front. If you disagree with the city, you can ask and find out what information they used to base their decision on.

As for being able to discern which cars are from Barrie, we can look at how other towns do it, like Innisfil. They send a windshield sticker in the mail with your taxes. If you have that sticker on your car you don't get a ticket.

Charls states that he is ok with not having room at the beach and will just come back another day. Thats very nice of him, but I moved to Barrie for the beach front and pay much higher taxes then I did in Innisfill or Oro. Which I am ok with, because Barrie offers more. I no longer have the big house and acres of land, but at the same time I get to enjoy the parks and don't have to mow them.

As for the statement we all pay taxes, that is true and I would welcome a one tax system, but thats not how taxes work here. We pay federal, provincial and municipal and each city has to work with the money they collect. i.e. Barrie municipal taxes are used to make and maintain the Barrie water front and if you live in Oro or innisfill those municipal taxes are used to build and maintain their water front. i.e. Innisfil charges $20 to use innisfill beach.

We like to use the things we pay for, would you share your house with people who did not help pay for it and be happy and quiet if you came home one day and your house was full? Would you just leave pay for a motel and try again the next day? of course not.

-fact the city of Barrie with the information they have believe the beaches are over crowed and there for not accessible to its citizens.

-the city of Barrie is implementing the same policies other cities have used to deal with this problem.

-if paid parking was keeping people away, it would show the city it is not needed

-the city will study the result of paid parking for about two years and access if it worked and wether or not it should continue

On January 27, 2014, Council approved implementing paid parking for non-residents at the waterfront. This decision was made to ensure the viability of the downtown commercial activity and support the City’s parking needs in a financially sustainable fashion, and provides more effective cost-recovery for parking services.