Waverly Beach: Signs of division
Dispute over condo development ongoing
Over the course of the long weekend in May, hundreds upon hundreds of local residents broke the law. Some may not have even realized they were doing it.
Regardless of intention, all weekend long, people were trespassing through private property down at Waverly Beach. Not the actual beach itself, which is public property and will remain that way, but the 36 acres of adjacent woods, with a series of interconnected hiking and biking trails, is not public land.
For the last three decades, the trails were owned by an investor who simply allowed the public to treat the area as if it were part of the attached public park.
But late last year he sold the property to another developer, one who quickly unveiled plans to turn the space into a major subdivision, with more than 100 homes, and a 10-storey waterfront condo tower.
“You can’t really blame the guy for selling the property, and you can’t blame this other guy for wanting to build something,” said Ened Doda, who was enjoying a barbecue with his buddies down at Waverly Beach on the long weekend. “It’s his property, and if he wants to build a condo he should be allowed to do it. Besides, I’ve been looking for a new place to live; maybe I could move in here.”
Public opinion over the waterfront condo at Waverly Beach has divided the town. Some support the plan and think Fort Erie needs to grow and modernize. Others feel the land should be kept a natural woodlot, and oppose the condo tower out of concern birds will fly into it and die.
“Last time I checked, birds had eyeballs,” said Rudy Croy. “I don’t really believe that birds are just going to crash into this thing.”
Croy, Doda and the rest of their circle of friends moved to Fort Erie from Albania. They work construction around town, and they all agree that Fort Erie should forge ahead with plans for the condo, despite concerns from environmentalists.
“Can you imagine a thing like this back home? Stopping a project because of some birds?” said Doda as he and his friends all laugh. “Birds?” They all laugh again, even harder. “You must not have many real problems here if people are so worried about birds.”
Around mid-April, after council voted to allow the condo project to proceed over the objections of local environmental groups, a series of ‘No trespassing’ signs were erected all around the woods near Waverly Beach. According to a statement from town hall, the signs were placed at the behest of lawyers working for the developer, who had concerns about liability around the public misconception that it is public property. Dozens of signs were put up, covering every entrance to the woods, and concrete barricades were placed at some access points. About a month after the signs went up, nearly all of them have been torn down in protest. Some were stuffed into nearby trash cans, others were ripped and tossed into the woods. All but two signs near the eastern entrance have been removed.
Karl Dockstader is a prominent member of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre and has been a vocal opponent of the development at Waverly Beach. While he didn’t explicitly condone the acts of vandalism which saw the signs torn down, he did say he understands why some people have taken that step into civil disobedience.
“I imagine it's hard for a group of people who have been using land for a long period of time to understand that some power beyond their control has deemed that it will be put to a ‘better use,’” said Dockstader, who is also one of the key players in the fight to stop a developer from destroying wetlands and woods at the Thundering Waters project in Niagara Falls. “I’m always opposed to being reckless with what few finite natural resources we have left.”
Local environmental groups have vowed to take the condo fight to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (which recently replaced the Ontario Municipal Board) but while the appeal might slow the project down slightly, it’s unlikely to stop it from being built. The town had already designated the woods near Waverly Beach as a prime location for residential expansion as part of the town’s official plan. The primary question examined by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal is whether or not the project conforms to the town’s official plan.