Two resident petitions were brought before city council on Monday, one of which — proposing to allow car living and tiny homes on municipal parking lots — was called a “terrible” idea by Coun. Whitney Smith.
Brought forward by Ellen Wolper, a downtown merchant, the petition called for municipal lots 15 and 6 to permit car living and tiny homes on site, garnering 129 signatures from the community.
In an accompanying letter to council, Wolper argued housing is a “basic human right” and said the two proposed lots have the necessary hookups to be used for tiny homes or car living.
She also called out the city for ensuring garbage pickup and portapotties at boat launch sites, but not for the unhoused, writing “in this city it seems only some are worthy of consideration.”
During discussion, Smith urged her fellow council members against implementing such measures.
“I would just ask that you guys please, like, we don't consider that,” she said. “I think that would be a terrible idea for the businesses surrounding (the area).”
The petition was pulled from the agenda by Coun. Jay Fallis, who said he plans to address the issue in a different way, at a later date, than the method proposed by Wolper.
“Just to put other council members’ minds at ease, I’m not planning on putting anything forward today,” he said. “It sounds like it'd be an inquiry on something that's a little different in nature than what this letter speaks to. It speaks to the same population, but not in the same way that's been identified.”
Coun. Janet-Lynne Durnford said she would be happy to work with Fallis, and said she empathizes with Wolper’s approach to homelessness.
“I do believe that housing is a human right, but I think that we know as council members — because we have attempted to approach this problem from many different angles — that it's incredibly complex,” she said.
As Fallis and Durnford work on their plan, Smith urged them to knock on the doors of business owners, citing issues she’s heard from businesses near The Lighthouse.
“I would just say to councillors Fallis and Durnford, if looking into this, go knock on the doors of all the businesses that are surrounding Lighthouse and take that into consideration,” she urged.
Smith, a first-time councillor representing Ward 1, said around 25 business owners recently met and brought up issues arising from Queen Street shelter.
“Their staff are being harassed, attacked on a regular basis, there's stuff that takes place on a daily basis,” she said. “I would just ask that you not even consider doing anything with this, but if you're going to, go talk to those business owners first and get that input.”
Durnford pointed out that other cities, like Peterborough, worked with businesses to create a tiny home development downtown, “with full and meaningful consultation with all parties, and I think that's exactly one of those complexities that I'm referring to.”
She also added it’s “very important to ensure that we are not assuming that all people who are unhoused are criminals,” while Fallis also added The Lighthouse does “really important work” and that “we're very fortunate to have somewhere for individuals to to get assistance.”
The second petition, also from Wolper, called on the city to reinstate free holiday parking — a program that was eliminated downtown in 2023.
Receiving 35 signatures, Wolper said she has “not met one (business) that doesn't want this program reinstated.”
However, council agreed it would be best to seek input from the Downtown Orillia Business Improvement Area (DOBIA) before making any decisions on the matter.
“I think these are conversations that are best held with the DOBIA, and then they can come to us as an organization with the recommendation,” said Durnford.
Both petitions were received as information by council.
