On May 20, cottage owner George Dark stood in front of the Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, Ont., municipal council. He had 15 minutes to convince the councillors to take ownership over a private access road that has slipped into disrepair. This was not the first time George or the property owners he represents have made this argument. They’ve been fighting this battle for 32 years.
George is a member of the Hunters Beach Lakeshore Residential Community, a group of full-time and seasonal property owners along the eastern shore of Lake Huron. The Hunters Beach community dates back to the 1930s. The land was owned by the Hunter family, farmers who sold off parcels to family and friends to build cottages.
In 1954, the Township of Colborne and the Ontario government required the Hunters to draft a plan of the subdivision. This plan mapped out the 31 properties that still exist today. The plan also showed two access of roads for the cottagers to reach their properties. One of those access roads was never opened because it was planned over a gully. The second access road, known as Market Road, was the Hunter farmhouse’s private driveway, which continued onto the cottages. As of today, this is the only usable road to access the Hunters Beach cottages, and it remains privately owned.
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In 1993, a new owner purchased the Hunter’s farm. But rather than farmwork, the new owner built an industrial complex on the land filled with large transport trailers. He also dug a trench across the road and built a gate that could be closed.
The cottage owners took legal measures to have the trench and gate removed, but the industrial complex stayed.
In June of 1993, the Hunters Beach cottagers approached the township about making the road public, but the township denied the request, stating that it could only be done if the road was brought up to Ministry of Transportation standards. At that time, it would have cost between $100,000 and $165,000 to upgrade the road.
Tensions have remained high between the cottagers and the new owner over the years. From the cottagers’ perspective, the owner makes it intentionally difficult to access their properties. Transport trailers block the road. In the winter it remains unplowed. The abutting farm fields are tilled right to the shoulders, and the owner has denied cottagers from paying to have it maintained. According to George, no maintenance has gone into the road for the last six years. It’s now pocked with potholes.
“The draft plan was created to allow us to get to our lots. It was never the intention that that road system would be restricted, stopped from being maintained, or blocked in order for us to get to our properties. That wouldn’t make any sense,” George told the council. “The road system was created to let us get there. We’re here today as a group because this is having the effect of destabilizing our community, our security, financially and functionally. We are at a point now where we’re really at the last part of what we could possibly think to do.”
George went on to say that contractors, hydro, and septic services refuse to come to the cottages because of the road. This includes the Meals on Wheels program that one Hunter Beach resident is dependent on. It also makes it more difficult for emergency services to reach the properties. This is a concern for residents as they’ve had two recent fires, one in 2023 that destroyed a barn.
It’s also impacting property prices. Howard Meier, a cottager whose family has owned a property in the area since the 1940s, says that the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation just reduced the value of his cottage by $80,000. “No realtor or anyone would buy a cottage out there,” he says.
During the council meeting, George pointed out that there are several other communities like there’s in the area. They all have access roads off Highway 21. The only difference is that those roads are publicly owned.
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“Leaving [the road] in private hands, we would consider fundamentally a mistake in 1954,” George said. “You wouldn’t allow it today.”
At the end of the council meeting, the township asked staff to write up a report on the road. But Howard says this isn’t the first time the township has created a report about Market Road. Plus, the situation has become more complicated. According to Howard, the farm owner has taken out a $500,000 mortgage on the private road from the Bank of Nova Scotia.
“I don’t know how you can mortgage a road, but somehow they did,” he says.
While the township’s interest is a step in the right direction, Howard wagers there’s only a 50/50 chance of the township taking ownership. “At the moment,” he says, “they seem to have some issues with dealing with this particular gentleman and are afraid of any pushback.”
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