Lakeshore residents sue municipality over crumbling access road

The Municipality of Lakeshore is refusing to fix Couture Beach Road, leading to residents taking legal action. CTV Windsor’s Travis Fortnum explains.

A group of Lakeshore residents is taking the municipality to court over the deteriorating state of the only road leading to their homes.

Couture Road, a pothole-ridden stretch off County Road 2, serves as the sole access point for more than 30 residents of Couture Beach Road. For decades, the municipality maintained it — plowing snow, cutting grass, and making repairs. But in 2020, that stopped.

Now, residents are challenging the town’s claim that the road is private property, arguing in court that Lakeshore’s long history of maintenance makes it a public responsibility.

‘At risk of damaging your vehicle’

Terry Easby has lived on Couture Beach Road for 40 years and said navigating the road has become a daily struggle.

“Trying to avoid the potholes is next to impossible,” he said.

“So, you’re going to get them no matter what, and you’re at risk of damaging your vehicle. Myself, I’ve cracked a rim on my vehicle. And I also had to replace front struts.”

Even careful driving isn’t always enough.

“The road just doesn’t have sufficient space or area without potholes to make that possible,” he said.

Winter makes things worse.

“When it rains, the potholes fill up, you can’t see them,” said Vince Renaud, a 20-year resident.

“Same with snow. So, people who don’t live there and are driving out after a snowfall, they’re driving along, and all of a sudden, they’re in a six-inch pothole.”

A question of ownership

The residents said they’ve repeatedly asked the municipality to resume maintenance, but were told Couture Road is privately owned.

“When I bought the property, nobody told me that the road coming in was a private road,” said Renaud.

According to lawyer Paul Courey, the road’s ownership is unclear.

“It’s some long-forgotten person,” he said, adding that one resident’s affidavit describes a lifetime of seeing the town maintain the road.

“One of the affidavits in support of the application comes from a man who is 73,” Courey said.

“His entire life has been spent by Couture Beach Road, and for as long as he can remember, the township maintained it. That’s several decades. When I confronted Lakeshore with the fact that they even hard-surfaced the road at one point, the response I got was, ‘well, that was a mistake.’”

Municipality responds

The Municipality of Lakeshore declined to comment on the lawsuit.

“Lakeshore cannot comment on ongoing litigation or matters before the courts,” said Alex Denonville, Communications and Engagement for the Municipality of Lakeshore.

Courey points to Ontario law, which states that if a road is used by the public long enough, it can become public property. The same applies if a municipality has maintained a road for years.

“People think about squatter’s rights—it’s something like that," he said.

“The owner, who technically holds the deed to this strip of land from 1922, has never prevented anyone from using it as a road. That’s what we call dedication. And the municipality has, in effect, accepted it by maintaining it as a public road for decades.”

A judge will now determine whether Couture Road remains a private matter or if the municipality must resume maintaining it.