REFLECTION: Georgina can decide future of Lake Simcoe

Reporter looks back on what Lake Simcoe means to her

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 2, 2020
Amanda Persico

For many, Lake Simcoe is a place to spend the summer days frolicking in the sand or ice fishing in the winter.

I was one of those outsiders who passed through Georgina to get to the beach, bypassing all the town has to offer.

We’d pack the car with coolers stuffed with food, towels and a soccer ball and spend the day dipping in and out of the water. My mother with her thermos of espresso, my sisters with their sand toys and me with my face buried in a book, sitting lakeside.

We drove up here even before there was talk of extending Highway 404 to Ravenshoe Road. And the drive always included meandering along Lake Drive admiring the lakeside living.

I was in awe of those Georgina residents who took advantage of free residential parking passes to the local beaches.

Now, with a family of my own, the lake still holds the same amount of shimmer and shine as it once did. We invite friends far and wide to join us at the local lake, where the water was clear and the sand somewhat white. Friends from the city still cannot believe how clean and clear the water is or how close the weekend getaway was.

Although I live a few towns over, Lake Simcoe was always a part of my life. And now even more so.

Since I started reporting on all things Georgina over the past several months, it occurred to me that Lake Simcoe is at the very heart of the town and going to the beach every now and then only skimmed the surface. Everything circles back to the lake -- beaches, parking, trash, private beach access, development and vacation homes.

This year, town council has dealt with a lot of big-ticket items, all of which are entangled and meander along Georgina’s 52-kilometre shoreline.

Earlier this year, council looked at removing some pay-and-display parking spaces at some of the more popular, overcrowded beach park destinations and replacing them with resident-only parking.

Then council approved moving forward with its waterfront parks master plan in hopes of coming up with a solution for beach overcrowding, parking and congestion.

Then council took a swing at trying to untangle the Lake Drive/lake access mess.

Not to mention the region’s $685-million Upper York Sewage Solution project is still sitting at the province’s door awaiting approval.

As an outsider looking in, it seems Georgina is trying to delicately deal with the us versus them dilemma -- residents versus beachgoers like me.

There is one article that sticks out for me, an analysis piece written by my co-worker and cubicle-mate Kim Zarzour, Beach Wars: Whose Lake Is It Anyway? The article looks at overcrowding at Lake Wilcox in Richmond Hill and at various beaches along Lake Simcoe, putting into perspective how lake access is viewed differently by different users.

This, along with watching Georgina council confront issue after issue surrounding Lake Simcoe, really struck a chord.

So, who owns the lake and the sandy beaches surrounding it?

I’m not a resident of Georgina. I’m not a tourist to the area. I’m a beachgoer.

I pay my admission; I collect my garbage; and I go home.

I didn’t realize what I paid to use the beach and spend a day at the lake amounts to pennies in the hands of the municipality that has to deal with the aftermath of a hot, long weekend.

It’s not fair for Georgina taxpayers to foot the bill for waste left behind by beachgoers. Nor should it be up to the town to determine who can dip their toes in Lake Simcoe’s water.

Going to the lake and daydreaming lakeside should not be in the hands of the few elite. But at the same time, maybe Georgina needs to step up its game by increasing parking fines and adding "do not litter" signage in big bold print.

The us versus them issue is only going to get worse as the weather turns warm again.

Since Lake Simcoe is technically Georgina’s backyard, it falls to Georgina to be the leader and dictate what’s acceptable around the lake.