Bay Street bigwigs spend millions fighting a development near their cottages

A mega-retreat planned for the shores of Lake Simcoe has pitted developer Earl Rumm of Markham-based Geranium Corporation against a group of millionaire Bay Streeters who have long owned cottages in the area and don’t want newcomers messing with their idyll. In the past 10 years those heavyweights have spent tens of millions of dollars (!) fighting the 242-hectare development, which would include 2,000 lakeside units, a golf course, a hotel and dozens of shops and restaurants. Now, they’ve teamed up with locals and environmentalists in a last-ditch effort to stop the province from selling a key piece of land that Rumm wants to use to build an artificial shoreline. If that effort fails, the resort—which has already received approval from the city and province—would be a done deal. Though Rumm is already working on that assumption: the site is being stripped of trees to prep for construction, and a sales centre is set to open in the fall. [Globe and Mail]