Fort Erie, Ontario Group Is Appealing Court Decision On Bay Beach Condo

By Doug Draper 

The battle for Bay Beach along the Lake Erie shores of Fort Erie, Ontario is apparently not over yet.

A digital image of what the controversial condo would look like on Bay Beach in Fort Erie, Ontario

A group of six residents from the Fort Erie communities of Crystal Beach, Ridgeway and Crescent Park is appealing an Ontario Superior Court ruling this past May that upholds the Ontario Municipal Board’s previous approval for the building of a 12-storey condo in front of this public beach.

”Really good news. The Bay Beach decision will be appealed,” said Marcia Carlyn, a Crystal Beach area resident and long-time opponent of the condo in a recent email. “The plaintiffs decided to appeal last month’s decision by a Toronto judge to dismiss their lawsuit against the Town and the Molinaro Group.  The Notice of Appeal was filed last Friday, June 1.  The appeal will be heard by the Ontario Divisional Court (three judges) who will determine if Justice Hainey’s decision coincides with the law.  A date to hear the appeal has not yet been set.”

The six plaintiffs in the case will also be appealing the Superior Court’s ruling that it pay the costs for the appeal it made in that venue. Those costs total more than $135,000.

Supporters of the development, including Fort Erie’s mayor Doug Martin and a slim majority on the council, expressed hope this May that the Superior Court decision would finally bring to rest an issue that has triggered high emotions and divided people in the Fort Erie community for the past three or four years.

Opponents of the condo feel the proposed structure is completely out of character with the Crystal Beach area, where most homes and businesses are no more than one or two storeys high. They also don’t want to see one of the last open beaches for the public to be overshadowed by this building.

To find out more about the opponents’ position on this issue you can visit the Fort Erie Waterfront Preservation Association’s site at www.fewpa.org .

To learn more about this development from the Town of Fort Erie’s view visit the town’s website at  http://www.forterie.on.ca/WebSite/tofeweb.nsf/0/6D0B48F6730E6EE18525790A00540FF0?OpenDocument .

(Niagara At Large will continue to follow this latest legal battle as it unfolds and we invite our readers to share their views below. Please remember that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last name.)