In an effort to display in a 3D format the proposed Cedar Crescent Village (CCV) for Port Elgin main beach, the Beach Preservers of Port Elgin invited Tanya Kastl, a master sculptor, to create a model of the development on July 30th (2021).
“We wanted people to be able to see the scope of the project through a 3D model,” said Beach Preserver organizer, Patricia Frank. “It’s one thing to see a rendered drawing and quite another to see the actual proposed development in a physical form.”
The CCV development is currently under review by the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (SVCA) to determine whether or not the project can go ahead as planned due to the environmentally sensitive hazardous flood plain at the Port Elgin Main Beach.
The Beach Preservers have lobbied to have the development re-designed and also moved back from the designated hazardous flood plain. “We are definitely not against development on the beach,” added Frank, “but as designed, this is not good for the environment, for the beach which is a public entity or for the entire community. Unfortunately, there has been little to no compromise by the proponents of this development.”
The project has now been under scrutiny for two years. At the outset, there were public meetings where residents voiced their concerns over, not only the scale of the project, but the 50-year lease that was granted by the Town to the applicant prior to approval by the SVCA.
The development that has been proposed by the applicant that consists of several local partners, will include a 300-seat conference centre that has become the main focus of those against the project as it is.
For larger view, Click on Image
“Visitors do not come to our beach to go to a conference centre,” says local retired lawyer John Mann, “and once we build on our Port Elgin relic beach, our beach can never be restored back to its natural state! The application is now under review by the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority and its mandate is “to prevent loss of life, property damage and social disruption from flood and erosion processes and the conservation of local ecosystems.” Unfortunately, in recent correspondence with the SVCA, I was told that “SVCA has no obligation to inform the public on the status of a permit application, nor its outstanding elements … and that SVCA staff can make the final decision.”
For larger view, Click on Image
“We have had a great deal of interest over this past weekend,” adds Frank, “people really had no idea how large this development will be and how much of the main beach will be lost. Also, the project has now been moved further north so that it will cut off access to one of our previous little restaurants, the Harborlite, not to mention a view of the lake and harbour.”
