District Official Plan Input

Moon River Property Owners Association

Dear District Chair and Councillors:

Thank you for this opportunity to provide our Lake Association’s input to the Official Plan. My name is Bruno Polewski. I am a Director of the Moon River Property Owners’ Association.

Recognition of Lake Plans:

I have attached an electronic copy of our Association’s Lake Plan in my submission to the District. This, and the numerous other Lake Plan documents that other associations in our District have prepared, reflect the values and wishes of our communities. These documents are the result of many hours, months and years of work. It is our Association’s wish that you consider our Lake Plan, as well as the other Lake Plans in our community, when you revise the District Official Plan.

Preservation of Cultural and Natural Heritage Landscapes:

The existing District Official Plan is an excellent document that helps preserve and promote Muskoka’s Cultural and Natural Heritage. The Plan speaks well to the need to preserve these significant areas. I believe we can improve on this by encouraging the municipalities to inventory and submit additional areas to The Plan.

I would like to propose the Bala Falls and the Moon River be added to the Appendix G listing historically significant heritage areas.

The Bala Falls is the focal point of the central watershed. All of the water from the Algonquin highlands flows through the and then over the Bala Falls into the Moon River which then leads to . This one geographic point, the Bala Falls, was, and still is, the confluence of the entire Watershed. This is why the area has such a long history as a portage route.

Water has been a prominent mode of transportation throughout the ages. Many types of travelers, from the First Nations people, to the European explorers, map makers, fur traders, Courier du Bois and early settlers used the Bala Falls portage site while making their way from the Algonquin Highlands to Georgian Bay. The Moon River was an important water highway for travelers through the ages. First Nations artifacts have been found in this area, and continue to be discovered.

I was unable to find any listing of historically and culturally significant sites in the District’s Official Plan that honoured the region’s First Nations people and their history. It would be appropriate to also include First Nations histories in our inventory. Recent discoveries date human habitation in this region back about 5,000 years. The Bala Falls and Moon River are of cultural and historical significance to the European and First Nations peoples alike. Please include Bala Falls and the Moon River in your inventory of sites of historic significance in Appendix G. I can provide any other details you may require.

Thank you for your time and your work on this important matter.

Bruno Polewski

Director, Moon River Property Owners’ Association