It was a cold rainy Sunday (April 30th) but that didn’t deter the more than 80 residents from attending a public meeting at North Shore Park Lions’ Club pavilion in Port Elgin.
Organized by Peri Lee of Port Elgin, the meeting was well-run and gave residents the opportunity to ask questions of developer, Scott Pearson, about his proposed project.
Pearson approached the Town of Saugeen Shores in 2019 with a proposal to bring back the historic mini-train to the park. The proposal has since grown to include several amenities, including a mini-golf, winery/charcuterie and event space along with several buildings, the largest being an 18 x 36 sq. ft. freight shed. “All the buildings will be pre-fabricated off-site and installed on cement pads and the mini-golf course will be a modular design built in Chicago,” said Pearson. “Any fencing used will be ornamental picket-type and should not have any affect on where people want to walk.”
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According to Pearson, with over 20 years in sales and engineering, he said that he “… wants what is best for the community … but a business has to be profitable for its stakeholders”. Pearson spent 18 months working on the proposal. While there is no firm agreement as yet with the Town, he said that he wants to satisfy as many people as possible but, “I am a businessman and cannot make changes that would mean I lose money.”
Residents asked many questions about the project and raised real concerns regarding the lack of parking available if the project comes to fruition. A resident, who is also a boater and uses the harbour parking, said that she does not want to see the boaters’ parking spaces used as “… overflow parking for this project. We pay a lot of money to use that area every year.” In addition, it was also pointed out that the many of the surrounding residential streets were narrow and most had ‘no parking’ signs along them. “Parking is definitely a major key issue for this project,” said one resident.
Saugeen Township Ward Councillor Dave Myette was also at the meeting and explained that the town had budgeted $550,000 to have the entrance to the harbour moved to south of where it currently is which would result in more space for the proposed development.
“As an engineer who has worked extensively with asphalt for large companies, I can tell you that there is no way that kind of move would require $550,000,” said Pearson.
The majority of those who turned out for the meeting expressed other concerns that the private enterprise would, in fact, be taking up one third of the public park’s space and would become a “… pay-for-play by the ‘elite’ tourists in a time when public spaces are important …” and that “… a winery would result in alcohol consumption in what was a family park environment.” Pearson responded that, living in Niagara, he had come to view wineries as “… an experience”.
When another young resident said that the park was one of the few “… natural green spaces left where families could picnic, children could play or where people could just sit and watch the sunset and that it should be left in its natural public-use space …” there was a burst of applause.
“I assure you there will be zero trees cut down to make room for the new tracks,” said Pearson, “and in fact I have committed to planting five trees for each one removed.”
The Town recently released a survey asking for public input and with a deadline of May 12th. Many residents questioned the validity of the survey saying that it related only to the return of the train and omitted to include the surrounding proposed amenities and expansion to one third of the park. The Town has said that it will collect all responses and will present them to Council in the near future.
At the April 11th Council of the Whole meeting, Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau said that, “Council is keen to hear what the public thinks about the proposal with all its amenities as presented. We can pass this resolution ‘in principle’ and direct staff to consult with the public. Council wants to hear what the community thinks of this plan before proceeding with any changes at North Shore Park.”
The Town’s strategy and work along the waterfront continues and is said to be guided by the Waterfront Master Plan.
To read more stories on the proposed project and North Shore Park, CLICK HERE