Dear editor:

I live on Shakespeare Avenue and did not sign the petition from the Friends of Ryerson Park.

I appreciate that this group is trying to make a change for the better, but I feel they are coming dangerously close to exclusivity with their suggestions to curb traffic.

At a time where we all need to get outside more than ever, you cannot prevent people from using a public park. I was born and grew up in NOTL and I hope I speak for others when I say … my NOTL is fun, chaotic and inclusive!

My friends and I love a noisy party, a great concert and sports at the beach. We are diligent about cleaning up and have found that others for the most part are as well.

Chautauqua was built as a cottage community and while you think you are preserving the quiet atmosphere with your efforts you are in fact trying to change the very nature of the area.

When I was a child I asked my mother why we had to share our town with tourists. She explained: “It is a beautiful place in the world and we have to share. Think of how often we are tourists in someone else's town.”

My solution is to enforce parking (as was well done by parking officers last summer) and put the revenue toward portable toilets. And remember how fortunate we residents are to have beautiful, quiet backyards. Others are not so lucky.

And as a last note, I'll be damned if I will not be allowed to go to the park after 10 p.m.! That's when you get the place to yourself.

Beth Macdonald

NOTL