October 9, 2022

GATEWAY TO MUSKOKA ‘SLOTH’ COSTS TOWN TOURISM EXPOSURE OPPORTUNITY

On Thanksgiving Saturday the Toronto Star printed a full page on the Bala Cranberry Festival next weekend.

The Town of Gravenhurst did not get a mention.

However, Bracebridge, a full “40 minutes” away from Bala, got a main street photo and a write-up about what to buy there and where.

Why did Gravenhurst get left out — only warranting a brief mention in the directions to the Cranberry Capital of Ontario?

And on such an important weekend with thousands of tourists destined for Muskoka’s best Cavalcade of Colour in decades; and thousand of Chinese descending on Bethune House for their annual pilgrimage.

Could it be that Gravenhurst is seen as unattractive no matter from which direction it is approached?

From the worn-out signage, to mega weeds, to rundown business sites sloth is deterring tourists and new residents to town.

Complaints from citizens have been ongoing over the past decade to no avail.

**Would this sign welcome cranberry festival travellers from Bala to town? Photos Lois Cooper**

Businesses with slothful appearances are not approached by tourists and customers.

Town gardens and curbs are not maintained in an attractive state.

Worn out town signs have not been replaced.

It appears that no-one on council drives the town with a thought to how it appears — or makes cleanup happen.

First impressions are important.

Not only to businesses — but to people who live in Gravenhurst.

Councillors are the first line of care for our town. And it is up to them to approach the Chamber of Commerce and the BIA, along with all businesses and citizens, to work together to make all of Gravenhurst attractive.

But especially the entrance roads and the main business section.

**From the north it’s the same branding image of a town that doesn’t appear to care.**

Council is in charge not staff.

Will the next council be as delinquent in enforcing bylaws on property standards as the last one?

We need a proactive council not reactive one.

Bylaws are made to be enforced.

The Chamber of Commerce is hosting something it calls an ‘All Candidates Forum’ this Thursday, Oct. 13.

You can attend the forum, but not ask questions. Submissions had to be sent in in advance and the questions were cut off this long weekend.

So it will take some effort to find out where your candidates stand.

Follow this link to get contact info for every candidate:

https://www.gravenhurst.ca/en/town-hall/candidates-2022.aspx

Change will only come if demanded by the voters.

Only then will media outlets like the Star have reason to give Gravenhurst the same kind of boost it just gave Bracebridge.

**Weed-come to the Gateway to Muskoka. Overgrowth continues to be a perennial problem along main street and on many side streets, which can’t be hidden with a few core flower boxes.**

**Your entranceway sets to the tone for your town when entering it. It says more than all the fake PhotoShopped promotional literature.**

**Bylaws are too important to be reactive, than proactive, when it comes to living and sending negative messages on Muskoka Road.**

**We’ve got mail for you – if you can find it. Off main street there’s a lot the same with a canopy of green crowding over sidewalks threatening drivers on roads.**

Beleagured First Street is getting some long overdue road repairs (when will it be paved?). But as an alternative eastern corridor option the main street that means boulevards have to be kept neat and tidy and not like a shaggy dog. Private contractors have trouble enough maintaining public property as it is. This is where tax dollars could be better spent.

Too often businesses large and small don’t seem to get it — or care enough to dead-head dreadful trees and shrubs. So should shoppers think and act the same? It’s a growing problem a new council and business groups should prioritize, writes Lois Cooper

lois@muskokatoday.com

EMAIL: news@muskokatoday.com

28 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’

Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1

Leave comments at end of story

SUBSCRIBE for $25 by e-transferring to news@muskokatoday.com

Or go online to https://muskokatoday.com/subscriptions

Mark Clairmont

11 Comments

Al Gibson
October 10, 2022 @ 7:47 am

Great work Lois…Keep it up please. We would be happy to be included on any, “Clean up the Town” list of names that you
could publish. Al and Roberta Gibson.
Bev Brewer
October 10, 2022 @ 7:55 am

Right on. Each entrance into tired old Gravenhurst needs an overhaul. Your article is a much-needed agenda item for the meeting on the 13 th.
Bruce Leigh
October 10, 2022 @ 9:06 am

Its nice to see that you are bringing up all the garbage that can cause a drop in the tourist business that many small towns in Ontario depend on. Ive travelled through many small towns in Ont. Over last few years and can’t think of any that I would try to visit again. I now live in the Soo and can say that they have a bigger problem here with the amount of decay and abandoned infrastructure.
Jeanne Tucker
October 10, 2022 @ 9:41 am

I am so delighted to read this article! I was beginning to think that I was the only person who cared about these things. The town is in great need of loving attention. The town could and should be a showplace of cleanliness in order to attract visitors who will want to come back. Right now it is filthy and cluttered with garbage. Lets have hefty fines for polluting the ambience!
Judy Humphries
October 10, 2022 @ 4:50 pm

Lois: I agree wholeheartedly with your article and thank you for saying it on behalf of all of us. You have no idea how many times I have remarked on the weeds, the garbage not cleaned up on public property, the damaged signs, corners where you cannot see who is coming etc.
Perhaps if our town staff lived here they might notice these problems. Too many of them don’t.
Unfortunately the property standards byLaw requires a complaint from a neighbour in order to call out the officers. We all know how hard it would be to throw a neighbour under the bus, and some folks might fear reprisals. I think that the by-law should be changed to allow officers to initiate action!.
And another pet peeve: I counted 30 billboards and large signs between Severn Bridge & Gravenhurst, most of them advertising businesses north of us. Talk about eye pollution. And one of those signs is downright offensive! The sign bylaw does not allow us to put up heritage panels even on our own properties without permission and restrictions, but we can infest the beautiful forests that hug our highways with signs that Bracebridge & Huntsville businesses place here rather than north of here — wouldn’t want to pollute their own landscape. Time we had councillors with vision – literally. Forget all the endless strategic planning; do something that needs to be done without hiring consultants to write more darned unnecessary planning docs.
- LOIS COOPER
  October 12, 2022 @ 6:48 pm
  
  I don’t think the bylaw is complaint driven. That is only council’s action policy.
Irene
October 11, 2022 @ 6:57 am

THOSE COMMENTS ARE VERY TRUE , I was disappointed to read the Star story about the festival. I have lived in Gravenhurst for 70 years and feel that we are being overlooked and over-built in many ways. PLEASE GRAVENHURST PEOPLE STEP UP AND MAKE US PROUD.
- Margaret Terry
  October 14, 2022 @ 2:57 pm
  
  I agree, Lois. The signage replacement should be a no-brainer for the council when preparing the budget priorities. It’s liking flying a tattered and torn Canadian flag: it, or they, should be replaced promptly.
  Bylaw enforcement has been a problem in many towns. Wrist-slaps at best, with no real consequences for non-compliance. But this generally relates to private property. Town-owned property should set the standard by example.
Pail Bailey
October 11, 2022 @ 9:56 am

Excellent article. Couldn’t be more true. If my property looked like the town property, I would be embarrassed to have visitors. Hard to have pride in a town that looks so very bad. Most of the issues would not be costly, just involve a little time and effort. Time for some new faces in the council.
BBeiers
October 13, 2022 @ 7:08 am

Thank you for putting our own thoughts onto paper. It frustrates and confuses me that Gravenhurst has gone from a jewel that was once envied by other communities to an embarrassment in such a short period of time while each council voted in has done nothing to reverse the trend.
We should be so much more than just a spot to launch a boat or sneak off the highway to get a coffee and use the washroom.
Jim Calvert
October 17, 2022 @ 3:04 pm

It’s always the same story, I want, I want, I want. And most important, I want lower taxes…
You cannot have it both ways. In Gravenhurst, bylaw enforcement is complaint-driven. Neighbour have a boat on a trailer on his driveway? There is a bylaw against that. Camper or trailer? Same thing.
In fact we could bring the whole department to a complete stop if we all just ratted out one of our neighbours for these life-threatening infractions.