A seasonal Erie Shore Drive resident who has spent two decades advocating for dike improvements was just one of the dozens of people who had to pack of their belongings this weekend and abandon their property.
James Allin's family has owned a cottage on the roadway for over seven decades and Erie Shore Drive is where he has spent all of his summers. Allin quickly took an interest in the story of the waterfront road and its dike when he took over the property in 1996.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent declared a state of emergency along the roadway on February 28, 2020, over fears that the dike could breach, resulting in catastrophic flooding. On March 2 council unanimously voted in favour of closing a portion of Erie Shore Drive indefinitely to allow for dike repairs.
However, Allin said the dike needing to be fixed is nothing new, adding that when you look at the history of the road, municipal officials should have been better prepared for the current situation.
According to Allin, in the 1940s, the then Township of Harwich developed the Burke Draining Scheme in the area, which included 1,600 acres of farmland located behind the man-made dike.
Farmers at that time were concerned that Lake Erie might break through the dike and petitioned Harwich officials to construct a dike protection system and eventually, a wooden seawall was constructed along the dike, creating a picturesque setting along Erie Shore Drive.
"That system caused the waves to break on the sea wall, the waves dropped the sand that they were carrying and a rather magnificent beach of sand built upon this dike protection system. As a two-year-old, I remember playing in that sand," said Allin.
Area farmers eventually decided they would commercialize the beach area, selling off lots for cottages and homes.
Allin stresses that one of the biggest misconceptions out there is that the properties were built in front of the dike protection system.
"The structures and the cottages that were built on the dike were built behind the seawall protection system, not in front of it. So there was the lake, the seawall, then the cottages, then the road, the dike, then the farmland," he explained. "The people who bought and built cottages looked at the government protection system along the dike and decided that it would be safe to have a cottage because there is a government-protected system to protect the dike and therefore protect our cottages... What happened is under the drainage act bylaws... the Township [of Harwich] was required to maintain the wood dike protection system and then pass the costs of the maintenance onto the Burke Drainage System owners, not the property owners, but the farmers who asked for the dike protection system."
For reasons unknown to him, Allin said the Township of Harwich stopped maintaining the dike protection system sometime in the 1970s. Over time, it began to fall apart and each individual property owner began to develop their own protection system. He added that the eventual lack of seawall is what led to the "mess" along the road.
"What has developed... is this patchwork, a mishmash of anything from old rubber tires, to broken cement, to wood poles, to steel walls, you name it," said Allin. "It's a haphazard mess."
When Allin took over his family's cottage in the 90s, shortly before Harwich amalgamated with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, he quickly recognized the situation and that the state of the dike was unmaintainable. He began looking into past drainage reports and the history of the area.
"I went to Chatham-Kent and asked them that this be investigated into," he said. "The report was generated and it demonstrated at that time to repair the dike, it was going to cost $11 million. That was a massive amount of money in the late 1990s."
A report from a June 1999 council meeting details Allin's involvement.
"Mr. Jim Allin of Erie Shore Drive addressed council. He said that he is not satisfied that all efforts have been made by the municipality to seek government funding. Mr. Allin noted that the dike will break and questioned the costs to the municipality, including the loss of life, when it does break," read the report. "Mr. Allin reiterated that the solution to this problem should be an engineering solution and suggested that the costs be divided three ways. He said that they are asking Council for $2 million and felt that this was a small amount to be paid by the taxpayers in order to save millions of dollars down the road."
According to the same report, the municipality mentions a previous state of emergency declared for the area.
"In the spring of 1997, near-record high lake water levels combined with a series of storm events resulted in flood and wave damage to many of the dwellings, and overtopping of the dike, threatening a breach. Council for Harwich Township declared an emergency and took immediate steps to provide temporary protection of the dike."
The report also details findings of an engineering study that was done as a result of the flooding event in 1997.
The engineering studies were completed under the Drainage Act in the spring of 1998 and they, with the planning study, were presented to the public on June 8 of that year.
The most significant engineering conclusions at that time were as follows:
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1. The shoreline is eroding and this process is irreversible without engineering intervention in the form of a comprehensive shoreline protection system.
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2. The individual private shoreline protection works, while providing short term flooding relief, generally tend to exacerbate and accelerate the long term erosion process.
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3. Risk of flooding and erosion are, understandably, greater during periods of high water levels, but these levels cannot be predicted from year to year with any certainty.
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4. The estimated cost of the proposed shoreline works was over $11 million. It was the consensus of the stakeholders in attendance at the public meeting that the works were not financially feasible without major senior government funding. It has been determined that no such funding exists.
Allin continued to bring attention to the issue throughout the years in addition to pushing the municipality to apply for funding from upper levels of government to help mitigate the situation on Erie Shore Drive.
Allin describes it as over 20 years of neglect.
"I expected as a Canadian, the government would eventually get around to doing the right thing, comply with its own laws and bylaws and reports and look after repairing the dike...20 years has come and gone," he exclaimed. "My expectation that the government would do the honourable and the legal thing and repair the dike protection system or replace it, that never happened. So we've come to today."
In November 2016, then councillor for South Kent, Karen Herman, brought forward a successful motion to solicit provincial and federal levels of government to review potential grants, cost-sharing models and partnership opportunities to construct a comprehensive shoreline protection system along Erie Shore Drive.
According to Herman's motion, in 2001 council directed that administration to meet with provincial and federal levels of government to review potential grants, cost-sharing models and partnership opportunities. However, at the time, it was again determined that no such funding existed.
A written response from then MP Dave Van Kesteren acknowledged Herman's 2016 motion, but did not come with good news.
"My recent review of a similar request by Pelee Island only identified an opportunity under Small Communities Fund which would not apply to Chatham-Kent," stated the letter. "To be certain no potential funding goes unnoticed, I will attach a letter from myself to your motion and forward it on to the [Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans] inquiring about any potential funding."
After flooding in 2017, Herman once again renewed her push for funding from the upper levels of government for a shoreline strategy.
When reached by Blackburn News about the current situation on Erie Shore Drive, Herman said she declined to comment, but acknowledged it was a tough situation and expressed sympathy for those living on the road.
Meanwhile, Allin said he believes that upper levels of government will eventually have to help out with funding to mitigate the situation.
Chatham-Kent—Leamington MPP Dave Epp told Blackburn News he is closely monitoring the situation but said one of the hurdles he faces when petitioning for funding, is that a specific plan has to be in place in order to get money.
"Our office has been working for quite some time, looking at potentials. In the short term, how can we help, how can we address that situation? Not even in just the short term but in the long term," he said. "The process is unfolding as it should. It's municipal infrastructure, there's jurisdiction provincially on drainage schemes. There isn't a direct role for the federal government to play at this time. That has not, however, stopped us from investigating potential programs that we could tap into."
Epp said there are a few programs the government has looked into including the Green Infrastructure Stream and Disaster Mitigation Funding. However, he said they are either not accepting applications right now or are out of funding.
"We're waiting for the spring budget, the federal budget. We'll look for opportunities there, perhaps new programs to address erosion and flooding. Perhaps the refilling of coffers and existing programs. That's something we're waiting for," said Epp.
A report that looks at the options for the municipality buying out affected property owners is set to come to Chatham-Kent Council on or before April 27. However, Allin said it's shocking to him that those kinds of plans weren't already in place.
"I can personally say that at least the last 20 years, I've personally brought this problem to the attention of the municipality," he said. "If we're going to give the municipality the benefit of the doubt, it has known for at least the last 20 years that this day was coming. In all that time it has done nothing to protect the dike. Now that we're in this emergency situation, one would have thought that there would have been some more concrete offer of assistance."
Allin, a lawyer himself, said the Erie Shore Property Owner’s Association has been in talks of possible legal action but didn't want to go into specific details.
A total of 123 homes are located along Erie Shore Drive dike and approximately 43 are home to permanent residents. Although Allin only uses his property seasonally, he said he joins every resident of Erie Shore Drive in wondering if he'll ever be allowed back to his property after Monday.
"This road has been in place for over 100 years. Families such as mine have been on the road for 71 years. The municipality, in the space of a weekend, has ordered people off the road and given them a week to get out and take all their belongings with them," he said. "I can summarize that in one word -- anger."
-With files from Kirk Dickinson