'I'm not backing down': Leamington homeowner vows to cuff himself to flagpole over property dispute with municipality

A conflict over water and property rights is becoming a big bone of contention in the Municipality of Leamington that has one man threatening to handcuff himself to a piece of his property to protect it.

Mike McQueen has lived on Foster Avenue for 47 years and at his current home for the past 24 years.

According to the municipality, a portion of his backyard belongs to Leamington.

Today, McQueen is facing an order to remove his back deck and flagpole — or risk it getting ripped out at his expense.

“I'll stand in the way. I'm not backing down. This is my land,” he said to CTV News Tuesday. “I’m basically going to cuff myself like this. I’m not leaving.”

He and another property owner along Lake Erie are upset with the municipality for allegedly not honouring an agreement to return their land after a promenade was built through their properties more than a decade ago.

Some say the boardwalk is only here because back in the 90s, a couple dozen property owners along Foster Avenue gave up their private beaches.

“Back in around 1990, the town had the desire, and the right one, to build a boardwalk. But they needed the rights of the beach,” said developer Joe Mikhail, who owns three properties along Foster Avenue.

He tells CTV Windsor his neighbours at that time agreed to give up their private beaches, but on one condition.

“That all the lands that were remaining shall be returned back to the homeowners, and that was created by a legal document signed by the town by council back in the 1990s,” said Mikhail.

A few years back, once the promenade was complete, Mikhail said about a dozen of those properties along the boardwalk were deeded back to the homeowners.

But six of them weren’t, including his and Mike McQueen’s.

“Effectively, they've taken all their rights and enjoyment out of somebody's home after they had given them the most valuable asset, the beach, the rights or water. And that's just not right,” said Mikhail, who has plans to develop townhomes on his properties to increase the tax base and provide much needed housing.

The Municipality of Leamington counters it did not promise the lands back.

According to the municipality, the land in question was owned by the federal government, which transferred ownership to the province, which in turn sold it to Leamington in 2012 for about $200,000.

There are currently no recommendations before council for what to do with the land in question.

Despite this, McQueen said the municipality is trying to claw his property all the way back to his back patio.

“This is our land we want it back. The deal was a deal, right? We give up our beaches and they promised to deed this back and they're not doing it,” he said. “And I don’t appreciate being bullied and taken advantage of here.”

McQueen has spoken with a lawyer and is ready to defend what he believes is his land.

“Cut my cuffs off. I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm not leaving,” he said. “It’s my grounds.”

Mikhail said the matter is soon to go before arbitration and barring out a settlement, will likely go to trial in the coming months.