Much To Do About Nothing: Parking in Gravenhurst

I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING A CITIZENSHIP AWARD FOR GOOD PARKING, BUT INSTEAD, GOT HIT WITH A TWENTY DOLLAR FINE

THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST AND A WHOLE BASKET OF INCONSISTENCIES

     To start off with, the merchants of Gravenhurst, like all those in the rest of our wonderful and beautiful region, have to deal with the feast and famine of the seasonal economy. It's been going on for most of our regional history, dating all the way back to the late 1800's, so it's not like we haven't had time to get used to it! Secondly, these same tradition-hardened survivors of the retail game, have also had to deal with the rising behemoth of "online shopping," and not necessarily benefitting our companies. What is a growing trend, of shopping without having to use a car to get there, or walk more than a few feet at home to complete the sale, and then take a few more steps to collect the mail delivery, should be influencing the way we promote and facilitate in-person shopping, offering more convenience consequence free. For a community that thinks its collective self progressive, and striving to improve its economic dynamics, I can't believe it wouldn't be the subject of a council q & a, to consider all the possibilities of giving the historic business community a clear advantage. Like the plaza areas and The Wharf! Ticket free zones!
     The question is, was it really necessary? Could it all have been avoided? Might it have been, on such a nice, pleasing, sparkling spring day, that the citizen and the official could have resolved indifference, by the hardiness and goodwill of shaken hands; maybe even slapped each other on the back, and agreed with the words of the song, "ain't life grand"? Methinks our hometown could use a big infusion of goodwill, and it could start by all parties looking at the "big" picture, and worrying more about whether we are as kind around here, as the promotions says we are!
     When I went to jump in the family truckster, yesterday afternoon, I saw the notice tucked under my windshield. At first, I thought it was an award for parking prowess. You know, parking the vehicle at the perfect distance between the lines, such that front and back distances are absolutely equal when measured. Then I thought it was possibly, a letter from a love interest, who has been watching and lusting after me, from afar, but didn't want to meet me face to face, to confess her deep well of affection. Beyond the delusion us antiquarians have, from time to time, oh crap, it was a parking ticket, awarded me, by the less than kindly folks this day, representing the bylaw department. Enforcement officers, who last year were nicknamed, by a local business owner, as "Rocky and Bullwinkle." I don't know if it's the same summer season officers as last year, so I may have to afford them new nicknames this time around. Anyway, as a greeting to us, and thanks for being part of downtown commerce, we Curries were hit with a twenty dollar fine, being tardy by five minutes, pushing us over the two hour limit. When we arrived at the vehicle, only a few minutes after the ticket was issued, there were three, count 'em three, cars parked on our entire block, and one I suspected had engine problems. Common sense might have dictated to the officers, who have discretion in these situations, that seeing as there weren't hundreds of motorists trying to find parking spots, at that moment in the day, issuing a parking violation ticket was a little bit silly. Maybe that's what they did in Bugtussle, Petticoat Junction and Hooterville, but for gosh sakes, it was a Wednesday in Gravenhurst, before the May 24th weekend, and there were only four visible pedestrians in two blocks, and two of them were shop owners.
     Now Gravenhurst Councillors can justify this by stating, "the law is the law afterall," because to suggest anything different, would undoubtedly be in contravention of another bylaw that exists to deflect criticism, by over-stating the obvious; bylaws are made to protect us from ourselves, when we get the urge to be excessive and inconsiderate to others. What's wrong with the brain trust up there at the crystal palace, of town hall, is that their enforcement of the parking bylaw, is not only seasonal, but occasional even when the summer staffing has arrived. We know this, because we've been studying their enforcement habits over the past three summer seasons, and there are all kinds of inconsistencies with their patrols, and the days they seek out parking limit violators. We keep an eye on the folks who attend matinees, for example, at the Opera House, and attend other meetings during the day, to see if the bylaw department uses a lighter hand, when enforcing the same restrictions, they imposed on me for my five wild minutes of excess. It certainly wouldn't be the case there is a conflict here, or is there, and that these same officers are told to back-off ticketing Opera House patrons, on these occasions, because well, the town owns it, and that wouldn't be good for business. We've noticed a few strange goings-on with others, seemingly allowed to park all the live long day, on the main street, and this year, we're going to get the photographs to document infractions, we believe are conveniently overlooked. And we want an explanation. We have a few loose ends to tie up with our own investigation of this department, which is a little hard to define in the public's mind, who see them so seldom, except when the tourists arrive for their vacations. So we might well assume, like a lot of realities here in the hinterland, that their appearance, like the bears after hibernation, defines them as fair weather friends.
     The fact that the town doesn't see anything amiss, selectively enforcing parking bylaws, and only in prime time for the tourism sector of our economy, does give us a Hooterville aura, don't you think? Do you suppose the folks at town hall think parking infractions only happen when the tourists arrive? How does a parking bylaw have a single sharp tooth, when it can be argued pretty successfully, at least in the court of public opinion, that it only has relevance at a specific time of the rolling year; and definitely is toothless, for the time period before and after, because there is no one to enforce it. The business associations should be outraged, because enforcement of the bylaw is activated to take advantage of the influx of tourists, and second home owners (cottagers), who we absolutely count on for our business survival. The bread and butter the town is punishing isn't doing a damn thing to help the business community, and yet, if you read their propaganda spewed out each year, you'd swear they were doing everything possible to make our lives better, and the town more progressive and accomplished than the year before. This is the problem with believing your own propaganda. It starts appearing a lot like fact, when truthfully, it's pretty much the fluff of fiction.
     From the Victoria Day long weekend, I will park anywhere that affords me the time I need to be stationary. If I am loading and unloading at the front of our business, or I plan to take off before the two hour limit is up, I'm happy to park where it is most convenient. Yesterday, the Bullwinkles of the bylaw department, caught me by surprise, because they haven't been visible so far this season, and I figured there was enough time to tend our customers, checking out, before having to move the van from in front of our store. I imagine there was a lot of glee giving out that ticket, and shoving it under my windshield wiper. I imagine if news went around the council table, there would be more than a few titters, that the main street "editorialist" got busted-hard, for twenty big bucks. We Curries, ruminating about affairs and altercations of the past, just thought it was mean spirited as usual, something we've come to expect from town hall. We know that the attitude thing can't be fixed without a major overhaul, of the way business is conducted on our behalf, from the town hall we paid through the nose to acquire. I hope they can use the twenty bucks to offset other debacles that have sucked up our tax dollars.
     I violated the parking bylaw, by those five minutes, and as such, will not fight the ticket, or call out the officer responsible for awarding me this little prize, because it won't do any good. It will only be a matter fobbed-off to someone else, and on and on, to where someone at town hall might point out a dusty old copy of the parking bylaw, which was opened once a decade ago, to find out where the ants were coming from. Councillors will say its the bylaw department's call, and the bylaw office will probably tell me to run for political office next time around. I would rather stuff the twenty bucks into an envelope, and minimize the contact with anyone who has a spiel to make, about "rules are rules."
     The Town of Gravenhurst is inconsistent when it comes to enforcing their parking bylaw. If they don't enforce it daily, and hourly, twelve months each year, then what does this say about priorities and protocols regarding every bylaw on the books. If the town is not going to enforce this bylaw throughout the year, it shouldn't be sneaking it in during the summer season, to penalize our seasonal visitors, who keep us in business and re-investing taxes in this community.
     I have never had a problem finding a parking space in Gravenhurst, when I needed it, at any time of the day. Today is no different. There's is something ridiculous going on, and it's hurting the business community, and needs to be rectified for the welfare of a vacationland region, that would suffer immeasurably, if tourists invested elsewhere. As merchants and service industry owners work around the clock this time of year, to maintain the vibrancy of this portion of the economy, we have every reason to expect compliance from local government, and if it means softening the approach, and eliminating parking times altogether, then it should be done without delay.
     What is the down side of not enforcing time restrictions for main business area parking, and putting manpower to work elsewhere, to maintain other more significant bylaws that carry far more weight, than being five minutes over a two hour limit. It's very much about priorities, and the town's eventual appreciation, that no matter how hard they try to prosper economically otherwise, tourism is the number one industry in this part of the province, and has been this way since the late 1800's. And it will be the same in another fifty years, if that is, we haven't screwed up the environment. Take it from the historian. Tourism needs to get the attention it deserves, and from what I see, it is considered little more than a paying inconvenience in Gravenhurst. I differ in this opinion, but you already know this.
    Shopping habits are changing in this country, on this continent, and throughout the world generally. The more commerce that is done online, means we will have greater stresses to overcome in the near future, doing it the old fashioned way. As retailers, in a region famous for its tourism, we are still likely to benefit as seasonal business for many years to come, providing we can maintain our competitive edge locally, and survive the off-season. We pursue online sales as well as many other local businesses, proving the point, cyberspace is beckoning as an alternative. But, and the town should pay attention to this, a lot of businesses are proving they don't need storefronts to run successful enterprises, as long as they are hooked up, so to speak, and they have plenty of shipping alternatives. A reduction in retailers on the traditional main street, hurts the town's bottom line, as far as taxes collected, and appearances, and there are already quite a few rental opportunities unfulfilled at this point, on the cusp of the busy season. This should be all the warning the town needs to seriously revise their outlook, and their policies. There is a way to make it better. Trust that people like me, a shop owner, won't take up parking spots all day, on the main drag, because, well, we want customers in that spot instead.
     Gravenhurst issues a lot of unfounded claims about our successes, and affords little if any focus on our failures. Believe it or not folks, we have failures. One of them, and it's glaring to many of us, grinding it out day after day on the main street, is that parking enforcement and subsequent ticketing, is a clear failure, to recognize how unwise it is, to target tourists who wish to shop at our businesses. If parking isn't a big deal in the off season, when the town couldn't care less about time offenders, then it shouldn't be a big deal, "in season" either. Council can change this protocol with the stroke of a pen. My suggestion is a simple one. Suspend parking enforcement in the urban area of Gravenhurst for simple time violations, for the summer season of 2015, and take the rest of the coming year, to work out a more acceptable parking policy with the stakeholders, the business community, who are keeping the Uptown corridor alive with commerce. If there are no serious problems to report, from the summer of 2015, then the working group has a starting place, and the initiative based on fact, to scrap parking fees altogether. This doesn't suggest abandoning sensible protocol on other parking violations, such as fire zone and handicap parking infractions; or anything else that is unsafe, or a clear contravention of parking protocols.
    The down side?