An influx of visitors has Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (GSCA) considering a per-person entry fee to Christie Beach.
“We are going to be actively looking at mechanisms to offset the cost of operating that property,” said Tim Lanthier, CAO of GSCA at a board meeting held earlier this week. “A per-person entry fee may be the way to do it.”
Reporting to the board, Lanthier said that all GSCA properties have seen increased traffic this year, but Christie Beach has become a specific area of concern.
“Historically, we see very, very few people going to that beach. But this year, we're hearing reports from neighbours of upwards of 200 people at a time on that property,” he said.
Christie Beach is located at the end of Christie Beach Road, off Highway 26, west of The Town of The Blue Mountains, and east of Meaford.
“It appears what was happening is that people were starting out in Collingwood or the Blue Mountain Resort area, and going to beach-after-beach, finding that they are closed because they have reached capacity. Until they finally reached Christie Beach, where there was no capacity limit,” Lanthier explained.
To help curve the problem, GSCA recently made the decision to place staff at Christie Beach, Friday through Sunday and to limit beach capacity to 70 people at a time.
“What I hear from our staff is that people are literally waiting to get on the beach. It is a very busy property right now and that's a brand new situation for us,” Lanthier continued.
GSCA has also added additional portable washroom facilities to the site, which also require additional staff resources as COVID protocols require sanitation twice a day.
Currently, there are no fees or charges related to the use of Christie Beach or its parking areas, and Lanthier said the added strain is creating financial concerns.
“We have to have extra washrooms, we have to have staff going there to clean it and the taxes are very, very high,” he said.
He added that similar to other beachfront properties, parking at the site has also become a challenge.
“It's a good problem, I guess, to have a lot of interest in our properties, but it does challenge our resources,” said Cathy Little, chair of the GSCA board. “I think staff are adapting really well and certainly, having people on-hand at those locations seems to be working out well.”
GSCA staff will be preparing a report on Christie Beach for the board, which will provide various options on how the authority may choose to control crowds and manage expenses going forward.
