The battle at Balm Beach heated up again this past weekend.

A long-running dispute surrounding the construction of a two-metre high cedar fence on the popular beach turned ugly on Sunday, ending in violence and the destruction of a section of the fence.

As a crowd of close to 200 people looked on, many cheering, a man armed with a chainsaw decided to take matters into his own hands and started slicing into the contentious fence, which has been a sore point for many beachgoers since its construction two years ago.

The fence was put up in 2006 by homeowners John and Elisabeth Marion, who say they built the initial panel of the fence for privacy after the restaurant next door built a large outdoor patio. It was also to protect their property line, the Marions noted.

[Shortly after, the couple – who purchased the property 24 years ago — applied to have their property surveyed according to the Provincial Boundaries Act, ending with a ruling stating their property extends to the water's edge.]

“It’s private property, and as property owners, we have a right to put up a fence just like any other person,” Elisabeth Marion tells Simcoe.com.

It’s that opinion that has created such a split in the township, leaving more than just a figurative line drawn in the sand.

Just days prior to the June 29 incident, Doug Lorriman, spokesperson for Preserving the Use of Balm Beach (PUBB) – a group determined to regain and preserve access of the waterfront – told Simcoe.com the issue of public versus private access rights for the use of the beaches in Tiny is tearing the small community apart.

“There’s quite a history to it. The beaches have been used by the public for some time, and now what’s happening is private interests are trying to exert their influence over the beaches and ban public use and access,” he says, using the Marions’ fence as the key example.

The fence has been a real source of controversy in the township since it was first constructed on the popular beach. In the past, says Lorriman, people using the beach would spread out up and down the shoreline.

“It’s the way it’s been for as long as many people know,” he says. “The issue we’re dealing with is just because the boundary is there doesn’t mean historic rights of access and use (should be) denied. In fact, the decision that came down to extend the boundary specifically says it does not address historic rights of usage, and to our knowledge, these have never been addressed except by the construction of a fence.”

According to Elisabeth, the couple only extended the fence after receiving opposition by way of people damaging the property with tractors, vandalism, and threats, including once when they found a .22-calibre bullet in an envelope on the doorstep, and another where a laser pointer was shone through the kitchen window.

“We’ve never stopped them from walking … never. Two weeks ago, that water was down about two feet, and they could easily walk. Since then, it’s come up quite a bit, so yes, now they have to walk in the water, but next week it might be down again. We can’t take down the fence from one week to another.”

Lorriman says PUBB, which met June 21 to discuss the issue and update members on its progress, plans to continue its fight to have the fence removed on the political front in the hopes of finding someone who will lend them a sympathetic ear and take the issue forward. If not, he says, the other option is to pursue the issue on a legal front.

“When the fence started (with the old council), we were there on day one to try to get them to stop it in its tracks. We believe there might have been a way to deal with it at the time,” he says. “They claimed there wasn’t, did nothing and the fence went on.”

Once it was up, he says, the township’s power to take it down was greatly diminished.

“We’re disappointed the township hasn’t shown an initiative here, and equally disappointed the province hasn’t either. I think there are things both levels could do, and so far, have chosen not to.”
Doug Luker, CAO of Tiny Township, admits the issue of beach access has been ongoing for some time, but says it boils down to property ownership and property rights.

“The township is made up of a number of public beaches and private beaches. We really only have jurisdiction over the public part of the beach.”

At this point, he says, council’s position has been the fence is on private property.

“Past council looked into the matter and came to the conclusion that, because it’s on private property, there wasn’t much they could do, and that it’s not within the jurisdiction of the township.”

It’s not just residents, beach users and council who have become tangled up in the fence issue.
OPP Const. Peter Leon told Simcoe.com police have been called to that section of beach several times in the past three years in connection with the public versus private beach issue. In June, the OPP responded six times.

“We are there strictly to try to maintain and keep the peace,” he said prior to the incident. “This has been an ongoing issue for years. There’s a great deal of history in the area.”

History and property rights, however, collided in the shape of a chainsaw on Sunday.

Elisabeth said she was cooking dinner when she first heard the roar of the chainsaw. She believes alcohol and a mob mentality played roles in the destruction.

“They got riled up to the point that someone took out a chainsaw from the trunk of (their) car, and started to cut up my fence,” she says, likening the noise to something you would hear at a big stadium.

“I saw this mass of people going down towards my fence, and the next thing I hear is this chainsaw and I see one of the panels coming inward and one of the guys coming with it.”

Calling out to her sleeping husband, she rushed down with her camera to take pictures, but was assaulted by one of the onlookers.

“He tore the video camera out of my hands and started shoving me and I ended up on the beach,” she says, adding she sustained several bruises, pulled two tendons in each hand, had her dentures knocked out and her glasses were knocked off.

This latest occurrence has only renewed the Marions' belief that the fence needs to stay up.

“It has to stay. What would they do if it weren’t there? I’d shudder to think,” she says, noting “they” means some members of PUBB, some of whom she says were present at the time.

An e-mail from Lorriman to Simcoe.com stated PUBB was sorry to learn of the physical action taken and wanted to make it clear that the group did not support the vandalism.

“Although our objective is to see the fence removed, we have promoted from the beginning that this be done through legal means. We do not condone destruction or violence,” he says. “We do not feel that the action taken (June 29) helps our cause or Balm Beach. It does, however, underscore the frustration that many people feel from the lack of political leadership on this matter.”

Mayor Peggy Breckenridge says she is extremely disappointed and unhappy the situation in her municipality had to come to such an extreme.

“It’s sad somebody had to lose control and take a chainsaw to a fence … We’re a beautiful township. People come to enjoy it and don’t want to have to put up with this. It’s a small handful of people that seem to be aware of the situation and are making the most of it. It’s become a mob mentality.”

No charges were laid at the time of the incident, but both Breckenridge and Elisabeth say they believe charges are not far off. Until then, the property owner says she hopes the police will take their concerns more seriously.

“We’ve been warning them for a long time (that something was going to happen. I think it’s (only) going to stop if someone gets killed... I really do."