Wasaga is the new Sarasota?

Today, let’s go back to the FRAM public meeting where they unveiled the Beach One plan…

During the various comments, statements and questions asked that day, I did note that our CAO Andrew McNeill (Who I believe lives in Mississauga) mentioned that his second home was Sarasota Florida.

He was attempting to support parallels to Wasaga Beach when discussing “roundabouts” in Sarasota and told us all what a fantastic place it was.

Apparently, he even worked on their Master Plan in 2001. I found this interesting as I didn’t think Canadians were eligible for that type of specific employment… who knew?

Although I had difficulty finding this particular master plan with his name affixed to it, please take the time to read the attached article I did find. When doing so, replace the word Sarasota in the article with Wasaga Beach. Although the population numbers are much higher (ok- actually, they are COMPLETELY different communities), the development/ planning issues all sound familiar.

I have no interest in Wasaga Beach becoming a McNeill shaped version of Sarasota. Do some research and discover where our “planning ideas” are really born.