The End of Tobermory?????

[Blue Quaker]

An interesting article from today's Wiarton Echo covering the council meeting on paid parking...
NBP council stands ground on paid parking

 

[Blue Quaker]

Hey Norm
Look up the list of current NBP councilors, and see if there is a correlation with your last post.

Hi Paul,
Check the names of the involved parties at the council meeting article that I posted the link to.......it looks like Bruce Anchor vs Blue Heron could be a part of all this too.
Cheers,
Norman H.

 

[shoredivr]

Huh, I was in Toby last Sunday, got a seasonal parking pass. The dive tag number I received was 1700. Dive boats were well filled despite the windy day.

 

[Paul Tonet]

Thanks Norm
Interesting read, at the end of the day it too shall pass. It will surprise me if they rescind, once the Revenue is in the base, then so be it. Like Stu mentioned, if parking is stopping folks, then most likely you really don't want to visit. I am cool with that too, believe Toby has seen tourist boom the last # of years and not sure if it can continue to grow at those levels. But that is just one man's POV.
You visit the CN Tower you pay, go to a Jays game you pay, drive on the 407 you pay, and at the end when we all finally depart we pay. Death and taxes, two certainties in life. Maybe, just maybe they will give people who pay high property taxes a break this year???? any maybe I will $hit a golden egg....
If you see a black Stanley Center Consol in the harbour, say hello would like to meet you.....

 

[rhwestfall]

I keep re-stating that it isn't about the "pay for parking" as much as it is a faulty system implemented.... FIX IT!

 

[swimmer_spe]

I am thinking of going to Tobermory to dive, and camp at the NP.

I am not against paying &15 for parking for the day.

I am now trying to figure out what charter to do. I am planning on coming on a week day, so things should be quieter.

My only beef would be that there is only one lot for all day parking. Leave the on street parking 2 hour limits, but, lets see some changes that allow more parking in lots for the day.

My other concern is if I arrive before paid parking is, and cannot buy a ticket, what happens if they check while I am diving? Do I get ticketed for not paying for parking?

 

[rhwestfall]

I'll post this as a "reference". I have just returned from Lake Placid, NY. A Village that survives 100% on tourism. The streets are pay (IIRC, 3 hour max purchase), and the municipal lots are also pay. However, the municipal lots let you purchase an 8am-6pm "all day" parking ticket.... FOR $5 US!!!!!! (purchase a ticket from an unmanned kiosk). Talking with the wife, we would have no issue with 3X that amount. The thing is, unlike Tobermory, THE SYSTEM WORKED!!!!

 

[Eptel]

I am thinking of going to Tobermory to dive, and camp at the NP.

I am not against paying &15 for parking for the day.

I am now trying to figure out what charter to do. I am planning on coming on a week day, so things should be quieter.

My only beef would be that there is only one lot for all day parking. Leave the on street parking 2 hour limits, but, lets see some changes that allow more parking in lots for the day.

My other concern is if I arrive before paid parking is, and cannot buy a ticket, what happens if they check while I am diving? Do I get ticketed for not paying for parking?

I spent this past weekend (Jul 22-23) diving in Tobermory and I had 2 afternoon Sat dives and 2 Sun morning dives booked with Diver's Den. Its actually 3hrs (not 2hrs) limit paid parking on some streets.
There are also some streets with free unlimited parking in the area (check with Diver's den where to park - they have map printouts with parking locations: free unlimited, paid 3hr limit, paid whole day etc). I was lucky to get free unlimited street parking on Sat around 12pm or so. But yes I can see that it could be an issue as there were a lot of tourists.
Sunday was fine as I had morning dives and had to be at the shop at 8am. There were plenty of free unlimited parking spots early morning.

 

[Stoo]

I'll post this as a "reference". I have just returned from Lake Placid, NY. A Village that survives 100% on tourism.

The big difference is that Lake Placid is a year-round destination. Tobermory tourism season is about 12 weeks. After mid-September, you can shoot a cannon down the main street and not hit anyone. After (our) Thanksgiving, you can practically roll the main street up... ;-)

For all the fuss about this, it's really turning out to be a non-issue. It may not be quite as convenient as it once was, and I still believe that the rules will change and evolve, but likely not this season. The VAST majority of people coming to town are utterly uncaring about this... it's only divers that are bothered by it, and I suspect that that's largely because we like to do "all day" stuff and we carry heavy crap.

As mentioned above, the two hour limit has been increased to three, so that solves the shore diving challenge.

 

[sebtdi]

Well said Stoo!