The vote culminated a 6-hour meeting at Fort Erie Municipal Centre, in which an

overflow crowd heard opponents object to the project by a more than 2 to 1 margin.

The vote to amend a zoning bylaw allows the 12-story height on Bay Beach.

The vote came after Council Member Richard Shular, who had supported the project in the

past, said the vote should be tabled for six months or he would vote against it.

Shular joined ardent Council opponents Bob Steckley and Ann-Marie Noyes. But when Council

Member Sandy Annunziata joined Council supporters Tim Whitfield and Martha Lockwood, the

deadlock allowed Martin to seal the amendment's passage by a 4 to 3 margin.

A purchase-and-sale agreement must still be worked out, and an environmental review mainly

concerning the endangered Fowler's Toad must be completed.

But the project also must survive an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, which opponents

said they would file.

Critics of the project insisted it was out of scale and would do irrevocable harm to the

beachfront town's ambience and that a majority of people opposed it.

"You can put a 12-story condominium anywhere. You cannot put a prime public beach

anywhere," said Joseph F. Bieron, of Orchard Park, a Crystal Beach summer resident,



Bieron and other critics said the project was out of scale with the surrounding summer

cottages, and would set a precedent for future development along Lake Erie in southern

Ontario.

Julia Wdowczyk, of Crystal Beach, also urged the Town Council not to push through the

condominium development.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot," she said, repeating lyrics to the Joni

Mitchell song, "Big Yellow Taxi."



"Our beach is our paradise," she said.

Supporters said the 87 upscale units would reinvigorate the area and boost tax rolls and

local businesses. They said that the condominium offered new hope for an economically battered

area and that it was time for the town to move in a new direction.

"Just the thought of a beautiful condo replacing a blacktop parking lot is inspiring," said

Lois Wilson, of Crystal Beach.

"There is a need for condominiums in our town," said Sandra Fishman, of Fort Erie. "There

are many people from the big cities that would never consider moving here due to the fact we

do not have any condos available in Fort Erie at all."



The order of speakers for the meeting was based on a sign-up sheet. That differed from the

Jan. 26 public meeting, when opponents waited 2 hours after the scheduled start to

speak.

The condominium developer, Molinaro Group of Burlington, Ont., has offered to provide a

pavilion, promenade, outdoor stage, washrooms, changing rooms and other amenities in return

for allowing the condominium to be built on the public beachfront property.

The beach is less than a mile from where the former Crystal Beach Amusement Park once stood

and is used by many Buffalonians who maintain summer homes.

Vincent Molinaro, president and co-owner of the Molinaro Group, said he expects the company

to begin marketing the property in spring 2011 if the project gets final approval and the

appeal is turned down.

Groundbreaking will follow, he said, when 70 to 80 percent of the units are sold.