By Greg Amos
Special to the Pioneer
Access to Invermeres so-called dog beach just got a little more difficult. With new fencing being installed on both sides of the railway tracks near Taynton Bay Estates, dog owners are no longer able to drive down Kpokl Road to within a few steps of the dog-friendly section of Lake Windermere.
But access to that beach is still available by walking about a kilometre south of the Kinsmen Beach parking lot.
CPR required that I fence off their property from everybody in my subdivision, explained Bryon Knight, the owner and developer of the 23-lot Taynton Bay Crossing property and the adjacent six-lot Taynton Bay Estates. Putting in the fencing was also a condition of the subdivision approval from the District of Invermere, he said.
There is a private crossing that exists in front of my property; its been there for over 40 years, he said. I pay rent to CP for that private crossing; that crossing is now only accessible from the subdivided property.
CP is tired of everybody walking down their tracks there; theres been two or three people killed while walking on the tracks over the last few years, he said. Everybody all these years has been trespassing.
The private crossing is near the old fort block house, which Mr. Knight had moved to the area from Fort Point 40 years ago. Mr. Knight owns title to that structure originally built by CP in the early 1900s to commemorate David Thompson and has plans to revitalize it and its surroundings as the neighbourhood is developed.
Where everybody accesses (the beach) from the cul-de-sac, thats district property, not mine, he added, noting 15 to 20 cars are sometimes parked at the cul-de-sac. The district made me fence across its cul-de-sac.
Mr. Knight has owned the property for 45 years, and is now registering the subdivision and having the new titles created; no lots are listed for sale yet.
Its been a long process, and some issues have recently been raised by the district, he said.
The dog walkers have never been a concern, he added. It has gotten out of hand a few times over the last few summers; I have had words with people.
Its a sign of the times; theres been some growth, and things are changing a little, he said.
