Wasaga Beach

Pay attention, this post may seem trivial to some but it has the potential to eventually affect every resident and visitor to Wasaga Beach. These visitors come for one thing… the beach.

Imagine for a moment, if slowly all of the access points owned by the Town or the Province were sold off to property owners in order to prevent people from getting to the water’s edge.

Some will lay claim that this is a legal issue and we should let the courts and our bureaucrats decide what is best. Nope… when the bureaucrats are suddenly one party in a dispute, it becomes an ethical issue as well.

First, should any of our town resources be used to help individual homeowners fight any personal property disputes?

You may have read a comment in one of the other groups this weekend about a property owner near Eastdale Drive having a yelling match with someone over using a beach access path. The dispute sounds like it was quite volatile. I entered that conversation to suggest the poster contact the CAO because his Mom owns a house out there and he would probably know the specifics affecting this dispute. To my surprise, I have since learned that it was actually the Towns CAO, Andrew McNeill who was in the yelling match.

Now, let’s go back a bit…. Last summer people expressed concerns that after years of access, the town had suddenly erected signs in the sand saying “Notice, Entering Private Property. Stay on Public Beach.”(attached) At the bottom of the sign was the Wasaga Beach official Town Logo.

Now three days after the weekend encounter, today a hand written sign trying to sound authoritative tells people that the path is under review by the Town Clerk (attached) and is not being maintained. It also lists the town report that is addressing the matter. This is where it gets interesting.

I decided to go back and research the report in question. (Attached)Wow! The report was accepted by Council with Councilor Ego putting the motion forward and Councilor Dileo seconding it.

Really? So while I am deciding what to write about this whole topic, my phone rings. It is another person from that neighborhood who also was party (actually their grandchildren) to a dispute in the same path this past weekend. Now this resident has taken this up with the town as well. So… staff are very aware that their boss is involved in this dispute. What a dilemma for them.

So… I have researched this a little bit for years now and this specific area is unique in that one of the property owners used to be a lawyer and was involved in having some neighbours make some sort of application (years ago) to have certain property rights bestowed upon them. I understand “four” have those rights applied for. I do not know the legal status or restrictions these applications allow.

I’m sure one day, the legal wrangling to fight for these rights will be in the hands of our courts. Until then, my opinion is that the Town of Wasaga Beach should MAINTAIN and keep safe the existing Beach Access points that have been available to residents and visitors for generations. All access points!

Now, if the top employee of the Town, that everyone answers to, is part of the property dispute… well does that create a dilemma.

For instance, when the November 15th, 2023 report was prepared, were any of the Council members who voted on it aware that an access point that would be part of the investigation was abutting a property owned by the McNeill family?

I said earlier that my observations and concerns were twofold. The above discussion is about a single dispute area that appears to have town resources dedicated to resolving private issues.

Now, for the second part of this issue… think for a moment about ALL access points to the water’s edge from Collingwood to Tiny. In a political environment that might favour restricting public access to the beach instead of providing access points to the water’s edge, would we eventually only be able to access the beach through the official Provincial Parks entrances? Would all beach access paths be deemed “not required” and sold off to neighbouring owners?

How many people in our various neighborhoods have walked to the beach with their wagons and blankets and their children and grandchildren holding hands. How many have crossed over Shore Lane or River Road East and passed through one of the MANY access paths?

This is a frustrating situation and it starts and ends with the seven people who chose to represent us at our Council Table.

Ask your Council members individually what they plan on doing about this? Don’t allow them to pass the buck and say that it will depend on the Province. I suspect they are taking that very stance in regards to golf courses being converted to sub-divisions.

In fact, think about this “access” issue, the next time you drive or walk through any municipal parking lot.(Dunkeron, Beach one, Beach Two, Main Street) Will the new signs say- “Sorry, Entering Private Property, sold to those who had money in 2025.”

Most people living in Wasaga Beach chose to live here because of specific neighborhood characteristics. Golf courses in our back yards, safe paths to the beach for our enjoyment of our friends and family.

Brian Smith,

Tanya Snell

Joe Belanger

Sasha Dileo

Faye Ego

Ellen Timms

Richard White

They have had all kinds of conversations about these issues. Find out what they intend in doing to preserve the lifestyle you chose to enjoy when you made Wasaga Beach your home.