October 20, 2010
2010 FORT ERIE MUNICIPAL ELECTION CANDIDATES’
POSITION ON WATERFRONT ISSUESCandidate Name: Larry Graber
Position Sought: Councillor Ward 6The Ontario Shorewalk Association is seeking comments on your position regarding our public waterfront lands. Shorewalk is a non partisan association and does not endorse candidates, however your comments will be shared with the public via our website and local media.
1. Shorewalk’s priority goal has been & remains the public’s Right of Passage (walking rights) along all of Ontario’s Great Lakes shores. To that end our current FE & Niagara Regional Councils have unanimously endorsed MPP Kim Craitor’s Bill 32 calling for Right of Passage on Ontario’s Great Lakes.Will you support Shorewalk’s Right of Passage efforts during your term of office?
Yes.
2. Regardless of the direction that the Bay Beach property goes, will you vote at every opportunity to ensure that public access on & thru the property continues to exist?
Yes.
3. We welcome your comments regarding construction of a condo on Bay Beach property.
While my personal preference would have been to have seen the condo development built on the north side of Erie Road the present council has voted to let it be built on the south side but not encroaching on the beach. There is a significant savings to the Town with the developer paying for certain public amenities such as change rooms, washrooms and a snack bar that would otherwise have needed to come from tax dollars. As well, future property tax revenues will hopefully be of benefit for all Fort Erie residents.
4. Shorewalk worked tirelessly with staff to develop a Waterfront Road Allowance by-law that was enacted by Council. It calls for:
i removal of encroachments (fences, hedges, landscaping works, etc) from public road allowances.
ii prohibition of any future encroachments.
Will you continue to uphold the bylaw?
Yes.
5. The Town staff, with council support and funding, have initiated a waterfront road allowance enhancement program that includes;
a) welcome signs
b) directional signs from the Friendship Trail
c) line of sight demarcation
d) prohibition of vehicles on road allowances except for boat launch suitable sites
e) benches & bike racks where appropriateWould you continue to support these initiatives with adequate funding through the budget?
Yes, I fully support these initiatives. I am not prepared to speak on budget matters at this time. There is significant thought and deliberation that goes into the budget process and it would be both presumptive on my part and premature to comment on funding requests at this stage. What is adequate funding in terms of dollars? Is it $1,000? Is it $100,000? I’m sure you see why it is impossible to answer the question as presented and at this time.
6. Through the support of council, money has been allocated to review surveys of all road allowances to identify encroachment situations (private residents utilizing the public road allowance as addition to their property). All surveys have been completed but require staff time to review and identify encroachments.
Would you identify the completion of these reviews as a priority so that access to our waterfront can be increased?
Identifying the completion of these reviews as a priority appears to be a reasonable request. I understand other priorities are also evident and will need to be prioritized when the new council meets to set their vision for the next 4 years. I firmly believe in public access to our waterfronts and will do what I can to ensure staff time to review and identify encroachments is undertaken and recommendations made to council.
7. Full public access by road to Point Abino lighthouse continues to be denied by the Point Abino Association.
What are your thoughts on this situation?
It is difficult for me to understand why the public is denied access to the Point Abino lighthouse resulting in buses making only a limited number of trips to the lighthouse. There are now several gated communities in Fort Erie and what legal rights they have and what rights the Town has to access property owned within their boundaries is one of many questions I have and will be seeking answers to when I’m elected to council.
I know amateur photographers would like to have access at different times of day and night to take photographs using a variety of techniques such as angles, lighting, etc. I expect the arts council and heritage group would like to see access be unrestricted as would many others. The Town staff negotiated the limited access that is now in place. There are several issues to consider including the views of the homeowners and those of the general public having access to the heritage site. I remain hopeful that a workable solution can be negotiated.
We thank you for your participation & invite additional comments on waterfront issues.
I was pleased to see that the algae problem is being addressed by the current Town council with monies to be included in future budgets for dealing with this problem. This can only enhance the public beaches we now have for enjoyment by the citizens of Fort Erie.
I’m aware other sections of beach front properties are fenced off (not just road allowances) and only members of certain groups have access to that portion of the beach. As indicated in item 4 above, this needs to be studied also as some of these properties fall under private ownership by residential associations who collect fees from its members on an annual basis to pay property taxes and other expenses related to these properties.
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