By: Sarah Cooke, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
WHITESTONE — When the Simpsons bought their cottage on Wahwashkesh Lake in the spring of 2018, they said easy access to the lake was a big factor in purchasing the property. The lake is west of Sundridge.
The couple didn’t expect to be facing conflict from their neighbours, Bob and Barbara Cribbett, and the Municipality of Whitestone, over a floating dock built by the previous homeowner.
“When we bought the place we were like, ‘this is great, easy access down to a dock.’ The previous homeowner certainly didn’t make any indication that you couldn’t put it there,” said Tyler Simpson.
Their neighbours, the Cribbetts have since requested their shore road allowance purchase with a straight-line projection of their property line, which cuts off the Simpsons' access to the dock.
The Simpsons expressed concerns of bias regarding the working relationship between Barbara Cribbett and three members of the local council.
Cribbett served as interim treasurer for the municipality from October 2017 to July 2018, during the time Whitestone Mayor George Comrie, and current councillors Joe Lamb and Joe McEwen served on council.
When asked about the relationship between council and Barbara Cribbett, Comrie said that Whitestone is a small municipality and most applications of this nature come from people known to the councillors.
“The answer is, we decide planning matters, matters like this, based on their merit,” he said. “I’m satisfied there is no conflict of interest. This is not decided on the basis of personality, it’s decided on the basis of what makes sense and what we do in a default, where there is no agreement on the part of the applicant and the neighbours of the applicant, to do something different.”
“What is strange is that our neighbours never came and talked to us about this, so we found out about it very second hand,” said Grace Simpson, adding that they found out when they discovered stakes on their property in 2019.
The application to purchase shore road allowance from the Municipality of Whitestone states, “the applicant must obtain the ‘preliminary consent’ of his/her neighbours in the form provided.”
Mayor Comrie said that preliminary consent is not a requirement, but is part of the process.
“It is still a decision of council,” Comrie said. “It’s not like you can stop somebody from acquiring their shore road allowance by saying, ‘I don’t consent to it.’ This is the first time I’ve encountered a conflict over it. Normally, whatever is being proposed, everyone is OK with.”
In a May 8 letter to council from the Cribbetts, they said they didn't acquire preliminary consent from the neighbours, as they believed the shore road allowances had already been purchased.
“As we have now discovered, not all the property owners completed the process and actually purchased their shore road allowance,” said the Cribbetts' letter.
The oversight comes from the lots in question, along with others in the subdivision, being surveyed in 2003 for shore road allowance purchase by previous property owners.
The municipality approved and registered these surveys and gave them to the land registry office.
“If we were aware of the Cribbetts' original application in May 2019 we certainly would have objected,” Grace Simpson told council on May 19. “I really think that needs to be taken into consideration; the opportunity to object was never provided to us.”
The Simpsons requested council allow a “dog's bend” of less than 100 square feet that would allow them access to the dock, citing section 9.08.4 in the municipality’s official plan.
The section states that, “No shore road allowance will be stopped up and sold to the riparian landowner where it is used for access by an adjoining property owner or where the sale will have a negative impact on an adjoining property owner.”
“We also believe the historical area for the dock represents safe access for young children and individuals with mobility issues,” said Simpson. “An alternative location would have a negative impact on the safety, access, and affect property value.”
However, council went ahead and approved the purchase. The public hearing for the closure of the shore road allowance is on July 6.
In an email to this newspaper, Comrie said that the access referred to in the official plan is road access.
“If the shore road allowance were being used as the sole road access to an adjoining property, we would not stop up and sell that shore road allowance,” he said, adding that all of the properties in the subdivision have their own individual road and lake access.
“We've hired a specific municipal lawyer to give us advice. We are very serious about pursuing this; we don't want to go through a lawsuit route,” said Grace Simpson. “We don't want to sue our own city, but we don't feel like we have much of a choice now, but we are certainly open to other options.”
On June 16, the Simpsons served the municipality with a letter from their legal counsel asking the municipality to reconsider the closure of the shore road allowance in favour of the Cribbetts.
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Sarah Cooke is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Parry Sound North Star.
Local Journalism Initiative reporters are funded by the government of Canada.
