To the Editor:
Nearly a month has passed since the SVCA Administrative Review of the application permit for the Cedar Crescent Village was cut short due to the storm of September 7th. Since then, crickets.
The review remains to be finished as there has been no deliberation, no decision, no Section 28 hearing. The key issue is whether the Town has submitted a “complete” application.
SVCA states that the Dynamic Beach Assessment still has not been done and submitted and as a result they cannot determine if the Permit Application for the CCV development is complete or not. The Town insists that they have completed the necessary reports and assessments and that a “dynamic beach assessment” isn’t needed as the site is not part of the dynamic beach.
This argument was quickly debunked by photos sent to SVCA of blowing and drifting sand up and over the promenade on a regular basis. Just because the Town decided to build the promenade too close to the shoreline does not mean that the dynamic beach stops there. It continues well past the promenade eastward as evidenced by the mini dunes building up by fence posts and sand blocks.
The Town also needed to restrict parking at the south end of the beach to the east side of the road only as a result of high waters and sand build-up on the lake side (west).
The Town tried to say that the deterioration of the promenade walkway was a result of breakwater construction trucks driving over it. This was simply not true. The break-up of the walkway happened after high waters crested up and over the walkway in October of 2019.The construction of the breakwater didn’t begin until December of that year. Many photos were sent to SVCA depicting the water from storms over the past three years cresting up and over the promenade and harbour docks causing large pools of water into the future construction site.
And so we wait.
Patricia Corrigan-Frank
Port Elgin Beach Preservers
