Callander has a freshly minted municipal marina plan, but before implementation, the town will host a public meeting to hear feedback from residents. Once that occurs, municipal staff will create a budget and a time frame. Completing the entire plan might take a while, as staff expects to integrate some of the plan’s projects into the municipality’s 20-year capital plan.
However, plan items should begin appearing prior to the 2024 budget.
In May of 2022, Callander’s council asked municipal staff to establish a working group to draft a marina plan. Mayor Robb Noon noted the important contributions of Callander resident, Brian East, who volunteered to lead the development of the Marina Plan. Together with Tim McKenna, Callander’s manager of operations, Taylor Craig, the planning administrator, and deputy mayor Jordy Carr, the planning committee was ready to tackle the issue.
On August 16th, the group reported back to council announcing their work was done, and it presented a few options to council. The marina plan is a part of the Downtown Waterfront Revitalization Strategy.
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Let’s dig in. The primary goal is to create a municipal marina. The municipality wants “year-round safe and effective public access to the navigable waterways” the plan outlined. To achieve that goal, the plan is to create two harbour sites, with “marina services split between them.”
One harbour—which will become the Municipal Landing—will be located on the South Shore, in the Pinecreek area. There will be parking for vehicles and trailers, room for trailer storage and winter boat storage.
The goal is to create a sheltered harbour with a boat launch ramp, provide seasonal mooring, and install some surveillance cameras to improve site security. Once complete, the south side harbour will better connect island residents to mainland Callander.
Additional improvements are planned for the marina on Lansdowne, which the plan refers to as the “urban” harbour site. The dock will be extended, and a new dock will be added, running parallel to the existing dock with the gazebo on it.
Repairs will be made to the Lansdowne Landings breakwater to create a sheltered harbour to protect the docks and the boats moored within the dock area. A washroom will be built, and a harbour master’s station will be constructed on-site as well.
These major shoreline enhancements will serve the residents and attract tourism as well, council noted. Adding space for boats allows for increased traffic, and possibilities exist for business opportunities at the pier, perhaps a boat rental business.
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There are also plans to close the boat ramp at Lansdowne to the public, once the south shore ramp has been opened and operational for two years. The idea is to reduce risk and liability at the site, but mainly to reduce traffic congestion.
On that note, eventually, the goal is to eliminate parking at the Lansdowne site and create a parking lot further from the marina. As to where that lot might be is up for discussion, but plan makers mentioned somewhere east of Main Street might be a good starting point.
Callander will host a public meeting on the marina plans, but no date has been set yet. The complete marina plan can be found on the municipality’s website.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
