Neighbours warring in Port Bruce

Neighbours in Port Bruce seemed to have resolved their zoning dispute right up until a public hearing started at Malahide council, Thursday night, June 19, with legal agreements signed between them.

But then Denice Williamson and Jeff Low reneged on those agreements, and demanded that Eric and Breesjes Bikkers of 3137 Hale St. remove yard decks and a partly-built shed that violated zoning regulations, and which had been built without permits from the township.

The neighbours were apparently enraged by a last-minute proposal that the Bikkers’ be granted a permanent easement so they could get onto Ms. Williamson’s land whenever needed to maintain and repair a new retaining wall to be built on her side of the property line they share. The easement, though, had been recommended not by the Bikkers’, but by township planning consultant Jay McGuffin.

Mayor David Mennill, noting “Emotions are running high,” ruled that a decision on several zoning variances sought by the Bikkers’ would be postponed until council’s meeting July 17.