How a fight over a fossil-filled beach is poisoning paradise on this multi-million dollar Georgian Bay shore
(The Star Food)

TOWN OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS—A dispute over a thin, rugged strip of publicly owned Georgian Bay shoreline has poisoned paradise for owners of a community of multi-million-dollar homes.The trouble began a few years ago when owners started moving into the new Peaks Bay East subdivision, across from a private ski club halfway between Collingwood and Thornbury, and soon clashed over access to the fossil-rich stretch of grey shale beach that separates the water from a row of six mega-houses. The Town of the Blue Mountains hired an expert consultant to come up with a plan to balance beach access with the need to protect the scientifically significant formation, designated an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI). The town adopted much of that plan in 2018. A year later, no one is happy.Last summer, the town installed a rock and vegetation barrier along the drainage ditch the non-shoreline residents had used to access the beach. While the town said its’ purpose is to protect fossils — and for public safety when the water is high — some residents see the blockage as cover for waterfront owners wanting to turn public land into a private playground. The fight has led to accusations of intimidation and threats. Residents have been accused of destroying plants to cut a pathway to the shoreline. Fossil-admirers and the shorefront-deficient owners are lined up against the waterfront cottagers and the town. “Everybody who bought in this subdivision was told we’d have access� to that shoreline, says Karen Kristy, a retired teacher who lives in a home near — but not on — the water. Earlier this year, a bylaw officer gave Kristy a ticket after she was told she had been recorded on video destroying vegetation near the waterfront. She says she pulled out some “noxious weeds� blocking the path she and her husband Mike use to walk their German Shepherd. She plans to fight the ticket in court later this month.Mea ...