Frustration over lack of beach access and erosion at shoreline subdivision

Residents of new Huron County development are worried about shoreline erosion. CTV London's Scott Miller reports.

Some residents are expressing frustration over the lack of beach access and shoreline erosion at a subdivision in Goderich.

Kate Krouskie moved to “The Coast” shoreline subdivision four years ago, and she sometimes wishes she hadn’t.

“I feel like we have been totally taken advantage of and basically ripped off,” said Krouskie.

The Coast development started in 2020 with plans for 300 homes stretching along Highway 21, south of Goderich, along 1,300 feet of lakefront.

Krouskie and some fellow Coast homeowners said they believed they were buying homes that would have direct access to Goderich’s famed waterfront trails and beaches. But, four years later, no such “direct access” exists.

“We had looked at another development where they had a paved path going down to the water. So, I was asking questions in regard to that, and yes, we were told that’s what it would be,” said Michelle Shepherd, who moved to The Coast subdivision in March 2023.

In the Frequently Asked Questions section of The Coast website from 2021 appeared the following excerpt, according to Krouskie:

“Can I really access the beach? Of course you can! The Coast waterfront trails connect to the lakefront parks at either end of Kingfisher Lane, providing you access to Cove Beach. Start imagining your morning and evening walks now and get ready to dip your toes in Lake Huron.”

“We were lured here by the advertising, by the website, all indicating that we were going to have this beautiful waterfront with access, down to the water, and so that we could be in the quieter area but still be able to get to the main beaches without all the business,” said Krouskie.

The Coast developer Rob Wood said a paved trail through the shoreline subdivision and a grass trail currently along the top of the slope overlooking Lake Huron is what was promised and delivered. Stairs, or a paved path leading directly down to Lake Huron, were not and are not in any future plans for The Coast development.

“If residents are interested in stairs, at the very south end of Rotary Cove beach there are a set of stairs that are easily accessible to residents, and a very short walk away from our development. This is the trail that was promised, and now our goal is to protect this as long as is practical and feasible,” said Wood.

Protecting that trail is tricky, because Lake Huron is digging into the waterfront along The Coast development, and most places along the shoreline, causing erosion. Because of that erosion, Wood was given approval from the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority and federal and provincial agencies to use heavy machinery to “slope” the shoreline along the subdivision’s waterfront back in 2021.

There’s now a coastal study being decided upon to see if sediment dredged from Goderich’s port and marina can be placed at the toe of The Coast bluff to further slow the ongoing erosion.

“Instead of disposing of it many miles offshore or trucking it onshore, which is what is currently done with those dredgings, it could be moved and deposited at the toe of the slope here,” said Wood.

Some residents are worried about their new homes because of the erosion, but Wood said all Coast homes and infrastructure have been built well behind the 100-year erosion line set out by the local conservation authority and aren’t in any danger of falling into the lake.

The Town of Goderich said all approvals were met for the shoreline subdivision’s construction and slope reconstruction. But potential long-term erosion fixes for The Coast won’t come quickly. A proposed study could take two to four years to complete.

“Which is a long time to wait for something, but that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to wait. We’re going to listen to the professionals here and take their advice. And we’re doing everything correctly here, and we’ll continue to move in that direction regardless,” said Goderich’s Mayor Trevor Bazinet.

The erosion issues and study info were included in the most recent community newsletter, said Krouskie. She added if she’d known about any of this back in 2021, she likely wouldn’t have bought there.

“They were promoting something they didn’t have the ability to do and should have disclosed to us right from the get-go that it may never happen,” she said.

“The majority of us are from out of town and we had no idea about erosion and that sort of thing. So, we’re really, extremely disappointed and heartbroken.”

Krouskie says that she and other residents have filed formal complaints with the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office, the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, and the Real Estate Council of Ontario. The only completed investigation so far has been from the Real Estate Council, who told Krouskie that the agent involved, “appears to have not fully met the standard of conduct expected of them,” and would be required to complete a course and are “expected to adjust their behaviour and trading practices going forward,” specifically in regards to “false advertising.”

“We feel that we weren’t treated fairly and that there was definitely a lack of disclosure during the selling process. And we also feel that the transparency wasn’t there,” said Lemy Tran, who moved to The Coast with her sister and friend in May 2022.

Wood said most of the 80 homeowners currently calling The Coast home are very happy with their new subdivision. He hopes to pave the grass trail currently at the top of the bluff along The Coast’s waterfront and will do everything he’s allowed by authorities to do to prevent the shoreline erosion that is happening almost everywhere along the shores of Lake Huron. He reiterated he wouldn’t have been allowed by authorities to build there if there were any safety concerns about The Coast’s homes or infrastructure.

“We don’t have to be concerned about homes falling into the water or services being lost or things like that,” said Wood.