Wasaga Beach businesses claim town officials targeting, punishing them

Several business owners in Wasaga Beach allege town officials have been targeting and punishing them.

Several business owners in the Town of Wasaga Beach allege town officials, including the mayor and chief administrative officer (CAO), have been targeting them unfairly through bylaw enforcement and threats.

Business owners claim CAO Andrew McNeill threatened to pull business licences and punish owners for not complying with the town’s demands.

“Showing up at our business, constantly harassing us, threatening us that they’re going to take our business license, (and) they’ll kick us out of the town if we don’t follow their rules,” said Rosen Andonov, who runs Wasaga Beach Jet Ski Rentals along Main Street in the beachfront town.

Andonov told CTV News following complaints from a competing jet ski business, the town revoked his business licence for failing to follow rules imposed on jet ski operators in Wasaga Beach. The rules, Andonov said, are not in line with provincial or federal regulations.

Andonov said town officials are unfairly targeting him to run him out of Wasaga Beach.

“For one second I am like, ‘Am I in Canada? Is this Russia? Is this North Korea? Where are we living?” he added.

Surveillance video from July 12 showed McNeill visiting Wasaga Jet Ski Rentals before getting into an argument with Andonov and staff.

“I was going to meet with you this week. And you pulled this sh*t,” McNeill can be heard shouting at the two men outside the business. “Get the hell out of this town, now. Get out of here!” he said shortly before leaving the property.

When asked by CTV News about the interaction, McNeill said he let his frustration with the business hit a boiling point following “over a year of provocation.” He said he regrets letting that frustration get the best of him.

“They were operating without a business licence. The town went to court and received a judgement and the judge ordered that business be shut down,” he told CTV News following a council meeting in town.

Wasaga Jet Ski Rentals is not the only business feeling what it believes is unfair treatment from the town. Business owners told CTV News they are being strong-armed by the CAO and Mayor Brian Smith.

“We are worried about our reputation being ruined in the town. We’re worried that we’ve been slandered and that we’ve been, you know, shunned,” said Leah Warren, who owns several businesses in town with her husband Sean. The couple claimed the mayor called them hostile after the town told the Warrens they would be sent a bill for when the town cleaned up garbage outside their property.

The owner of Groovy’s Cannabis and Tony B’s Variety and Gift along River Road East, among other shops, claimed the mayor told him “he has more power than the police.”

“He’s on a mission to beautify the town and so anything that he doesn’t think is beautiful, he’s got a target on it,” said Warren of the mayor’s vision for businesses in town.

Sam Elhallak has been operating short-term accommodations in Wasaga Beach for six years. Elhallak said he is not pleased with treatment he and other cottage owners in town have received from town officials, particularly the mayor.

“I have other friends who have short-term accommodation rentals and they’re all being strong armed to go along with whatever he wants,” said Elhallak, who claims the town is “changing the rules as they go,” and “punishing” business owners who disagree with the mayor and CAO.

“They have been pushed around pretty heavily. They are scared of their own town, they are very scared of their own mayor,” said Wasaga Beach Skydive owner Les Farkas, whose qualms with the town are well documented.

The Skydive Wasaga Beach owner ran for mayor in the past and has been a vocal critic of town hall. Farkas had his lease with the town cancelled prematurely last month. The town claimed Farkas breached his contract.

“Since this has come out, it seems that there’s an awful lot of businesses that came forward and reached out privately, people that are not willing to speak up because they’re scared,” said Farkas.

Farkas said the CAO told him his lease with the town would not be renewed about 90 minutes after Farkas complained to Transport Canada about the town improperly flying a drone last month.

The town says Farkas’ lease will not be renewed because of safety concerns and insurance liability.

Farkas believes he is being punished for causing the town problems.

“We need to look out for the best interest of the community and the taxpayer and what we are facing today is an exposure to extreme liability that we just can’t have and council directed that we address that matter,” said McNeill about the decision not to renew the lease with Skydive Wasaga Beach.

When asked whether the town’s actions are the result of personal retribution against Farkas, McNeill said, “absolutely not.”

The mayor dismissed claims the town is treating certain businesses unfairly and said these complaints appear to be politically motivated.

“We cannot have businesses in the Town of Wasaga Beach, whether it be a cottage court, a motel, a hotel, a jet ski business or a skydive business or anyone else not following the rules meeting the zoning criteria and carrying on like it’s the wild, wild west,” said Smith.

“It just simply isn’t that.”

As part of a statement to CTV News, McNeill says the town licenses 584 businesses, the vast majority operate responsibly and with respect for the community.