The Town of Collingwood is keeping its bylaw preventing gates for condominium communities.
Condo owners from Lighthouse Point petitioned council earlier this month to reverse the town bylaw and allow them to put a gate at the entrance of their community.
Lighthouse Point resident Daniel Whaley said his waterfront condo community has seen a “meteoric rise” in trespassers who are using their beaches, trails, and roads for recreation, and have been dumping illegally in the condo’s private garbage bins.
He said the condo community has hired security for its entrance for several years, and this year residents also went around the neighbourhood asking those who were not guests or residents to leave the property.
Whaley said he represented several waterfront condo groups.
Blue Shores resident Steve McCauley wrote a letter to council after Whaley’s presentation stating Whaley’s comments didn’t reflect his views as a Blue Shores resident.
He did not support the request to allow gates at the entrance of private condo communities.
“I have lived in Collingwood for many years and am proud of our socially inclusive, welcoming and increasingly diverse community,” wrote McCauley in his letter to council.
He urged council to maintain the ban.
“We must strive to do more in our community to promote diversity and social justice, not erect walls and barriers against our neighbours and fellow Canadians,” he wrote.
Paul Tranquada is the chair of the Owners’ Liaison Committee for Blue Shores, which includes four condominium boards and 203 homeowners.
He said the board has not taken a side in the debate over gates for condo communities.
“We can’t make a decision on simple consensus,” Tranquada told CollingwoodToday. “It would take a lot more involved discussion that hasn’t taken place … it affects everything.”
He said if the boards did want to take a side, the condo act would require them to have a general meeting with all the homeowners and take a formal vote, something he doesn’t see happening during a global pandemic.
“There’s no urgency,” he said. “We don’t intend to put it out to our community … because it’s a non-issue for us.”
Council received another letter in time for its Sept. 28 meeting, this one from Wyldewood Cove Simcoe Condominium Corporation 432 president Howard Binsky, in support of allowing gates for the entrances of condo communities.
Binsky’s letter states the Wyldewood Cove condo complex includes 177 units west of Lighthouse Point, and noted the complaints made by Lighthouse Point residents also apply to Wyldewood Cove.
He said the waste bill has doubled this year, and attributed it to “non-residents pulling up and depositing their waste in our bins, which is usually construction waste.”
In his letter, he also detailed an added complaint stating condo owners have been renting their units out on Air BnB or on similar rental sites.
Binsky wrote a gated community will “protect the residents from trespassers, vandals, and individuals who steal the condominiums’ resources.”
Collingwood’s acting Chief Administrative Officer Sonya Skinner offered a verbal report to council during the Sept. 28 meeting.
She said the Collingwood Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief continue to support a no gate policy.
Chief Ross Parr was at the previous meeting during Whaley’s presentation and said a gate can slow down the fire department’s response, and they can malfunction by not opening for emergency crews when they are meant to.
Skinner reminded council the matter of gates for condominiums came up in 2015, and at that time council voted to maintain the ban on gates.
She offered the short-term solution of a communications campaign led by the town to “let the public know there is a need to have respect for posted private condominium properties and respect for their amenities.”
She said the town could also reach out to the province to advocate for more public greenspace for all communities, and could speak with the Collingwood Police Services Board to request police take the condo owner concerns into account when setting out their work plans.
The town’s bylaw department could also assist with illegal parking on private property, noted the CAO.
Regarding weekend rentals, Skinner said staff are already working on a report on short-term accommodations at the request of council.
“We’ve been looking at what should happen on a short-term rental front,” she told council. “I recommend we continue to listen and continue to monitor the situation.”
Council had no questions or comments, but agreed with skinner’s recommendations.
