Battle over $150K beachfront wall pits neighbour against neighbour in Grand Bend, Ont.

A wealthy London, Ont., family and the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) are at odds over the fate of a nearly 100-metre stone wall built without a permit, one the family says was necessary to protect three Grand Bend properties that are as vulnerable as they are valuable due to their proximity to Lake Huron. 

The battle began in the fall of 2019 when neighbours complained about the construction of the wall, which runs the length of three properties owned by the Finch family inside Grand Bend's exclusive Beach O' Pines, a private gated community that hugs the shoreline southwest of the beach town's main drag. 

The conservation authority issued a stop work order before the $150,000 wall could be completed and charged Ryan Finch, his father Brian and mother Georgina under the Conservation Authority Act for building the structure without a permit. All three pleaded guilty in a Sarnia court on Dec. 5, 2022. 

Now, the three will appear in court again, on Jan. 26, for a sentencing hearing during which the court could impose a fine and possibly order the wall dismantled at the owner's expense — an estimated $50,000.

The dispute is a high-profile example of a conflict that's roiled shoreline communities on the Great Lakes for years, as neighbours challenge neighbours in a clash of homeowners' rights and the environment — over who gets to decide how beachfront property is protected against the shifting sands, which have only been accelerated by climate change. 

They allege the authority is using their wealth and name recognition to make a public example of them. 

"What I did was to protect my property and to keep the beach clear, and they're twisting what I did and trying to make it sound like something it wasn't," said Ryan Finch, president of Finch Auto Group and the owner of two of the cottages.

Of the three properties, one is his personal cottage. The other is a rental property he owns. The third, owned by his parents Brian and Georgina Finch, is a lavish three-storey structure that includes an elevator, a 3,500-bottle wine cellar and a dining room that seats 20 people, enough to host the extended Finch family.

Ryan Finch said the new wall was built to replace an old one — a 50-year-old rock structure he described as being so jagged and crumbling, it had become an obstacle and a potential danger to anyone walking along the shore. 

Finch wanted to clear the rocks and build a new wall to guard against the rising lake, threatening to swallow his deck and part of the bluffs upon which his personal cottage sits.

He needed a permit and quick — but it was easier said than done. 

"It was made clear to us we were not going to get a permit. So we took matters into our own hands and we built a solution in front of that old retaining wall to keep the beach clear of the debris and to protect our property," he said, noting he even hired a consultant in an attempt to gain the authority's attention.

Finch only got the authority's attention when a stop work order halted the wall's construction while it was only 70 per cent complete. In the four years since, the partially finished wall has started to collapse, creating a potential hazard for anyone walking along the beach.