The first phase of Collingwood's downtown revitalization is nearing completion and the fences are coming down giving us a better look at what the final outcome will look like next year. With all of the money that has and is yet to be spent on beautifying our downtown core, I think it's time Council gave serious thought to bringing forth an anti-loitering bylaw. The dictionary describes loitering as: "to linger idly or aimlessly in or about a place or on one's way....."
I certainly mean no harm to those in question that spend an inordinate amount of time on Hurontario Street but enough is enough. What's the point of having a beautiful downtown street scape with the same group of "locals" monopolizing the benches on a daily basis, some smoking and swearing, with others pan handling etc. I was even accosted one day by a woman soliciting sexual acts. Yes you heard me correctly, we have that type of activity in Collingwood.
I suspect that many, especially our out-of-town visitors and the elderly are intimidated by some of this loitering crowd. In all fairness to the merchants, citizens and visitors alike, it's time to hustle along those that detract from making downtown Collingwood a pleasant place to spend time. An anti-loitering bylaw is much more practical and enforceable than the ridiculous anti-idling bylaw we have in place especially with the proliferation of drive-throughs in town.
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