‘The buildings are falling apart, the weeds have overgrown, animals are taking over the land,’ resident says of Penetanguishene development property moved into receivership

While a Penetanguishene woman feels badly for those who invested their life savings into a lapsed seniors’ development, she hopes something positive occurs with a property she says has turned into an “eyesore.”

“It’s mind blowing that it had come to this,” says Kayla Garrow, whose family lives across the street from Foxpark Development’s Sunshine Village project.

“We feel so bad for the seniors who invested their life savings into this place. Super unfortunate for all involved.”

Last week, Superior Court Justice Peter Cavanagh officially “pulled the plug” on the project by moving the property into receivership.

This move led to many investors contacting MidlandToday about its story since they had not received any word about this latest twist in the Foxpark saga.

“It’s an awful way to find out,” one investor, who had contributed a significant amount of money to the project, told MidlandToday via email. “I’m absolutely devastated by it all.”

MidlandToday had previously spoken with an Oro-Medonte couple who were worried what would become of their $250,000 deposit.

Garrow says she, along with her husband, have been unhappy with the lack of progress on the project, which was five years along prior to this week’s announcement that it is now in receivership. She notes the lack of measurable progress has turned the property into somewhat of a white elephant.

“The buildings are falling apart, the weeds have overgrown so tall, animals are taking over the land,” she tells MidlandToday.

“When the weather gets bad we have debris that comes flying over to our properties. Us and our neighbours are extremely frustrated with this place. It is a total eyesore.”

And like almost any new development nowadays, the first thing developers do when embarking on a project is to cut down all the trees, something that irks Garrow.

“When my husband and I bought our house 10 years ago, we didn’t expect this to be our view every day for years and years,” she says of the now barren landscape.

Garrow says that when they moved into their home in 2015 they had some privacy with a wooded area across the road, but that was short lived.

“We got a letter before the build started stating what was going to be going on and that they had all these plans,” she recalls. “We were told it would raise the value of our houses with this across the street etc.”

Garrow says that after COVID they started to notice a decline in the amount of work occurring on the development property.

“Since they cut down the wooded area many animals have been misplaced and looking for alternatives for shelter which they found in our homes,” she says. “We have had raccoons living in our roof, skunks under our house, foxes and even rats invading our properties many times over the years.

“When we sit outside on our front deck, it’s just an awful sight to see every day. It’s terrible.”

Garrow would also like to see the town do something to improve the situation, given the property’s failing condition.

“The town emailed me and said they would be in touch with me over this situation and that they are starting an investigation,” she says. “Like I said, I have documented the ‘progress’ over the last five years.”

In addressing questions from MidlandToday about what the town could do, Mayor Doug Rawson says that while the property is private, any public concerns regarding property standards “are managed by our bylaw department and our building department.”

Penetanguishene CAO Jeff Lees notes in an email: “At this time we have nothing further to add. The court order and respective process will play itself out with the town really having little to no role in that.”

Foxpark Development Corp. president Carl Strand did not return a request for comment by press time.

Foxpark has been mired in delays with on-again and off-again messaging to those hoping to move into its planned 56-unit, 55+ planned seniors’ community.

In fact, Garrow says some seniors have come to their door looking for answers about the oft-delayed project.

“We have actually had seniors come to our front door asking about this place and what’s going on,” she says, adding they’re not able to provide any answers. “They tell us they invested into it and keep getting told it will be ready soon. Then years pass and these poor people are out of all this money.

“The fact that seniors who invested into this place are coming to our door looking for some kind of answer is alarming.”

But after reading this week’s article, Garrow immediately sent an email to the principal at her children’s school, Burkevale Protestant Separate.

“Burkevale is looking to rebuild the school (and) came into some money this past year for the project,” she notes, referring to last year’s funding announcement from the province.

“Unfortunately, they have been having a hard time finding land in town. This could be a potential option for them if the land goes up for sale.”