Help Defend the Legacy and Future of Bubble Grove

We Are Still Asking For The Same Thing 3.5 years on ...

For more than 40 years, this 86-acre retreat centre on the Niagara Escarpment has welcomed thousands and thousands of visitors for rest, reflection, and connection with nature. 

Long before the Niagara Escarpment Plan came into effect, the property hosted group retreats, celebrations, and farm-based experiences as a well established religious Retreat Centre with a proud legacy of agritourism and hospitality.

In 2022, our family stepped in to carry this legacy forward revitalizing the land as Bubble Grove Nature Escape & Rhythmic Roots Farm.

The intention is to share this space with an open invitation to guests of all backgrounds and beliefs to experience the incredible Escarpment landscape through sustainable agritourism, immersive nature experiences, and diverse and inclusive events that celebrate wellness, education, ecology, and culture. 

Instead of support from our ongoing interactions with the Niagara Escarpment Commission, we have faced over 3.5 years of delays, inconsistent enforcement, confusion, escalating compliance measures and a 5 day publicly funded Ontario Land Tribunal Hearing at the behest of a small group who have long known of the use on site and clearly stated they only wanted Christian use to continue here.

this is not ok.

And now in September of 2025 we are still working towards a version of the original proposal we brought to the Commission in April of 2022.

All of this time and public money just to confirm uses that the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) has documented in its own files for decades and confirm an eco focused and sustainable extension of 5 - 7 accommodation dome tents on lands which have supported open air accommodations for decades.

With zero negative impact.

This is bigger than one property. 
Bureaucracy and neighbour opposition have turned the system into a weapon, threatening not only our family’s livelihood but also the rights of landowners across Ontario. 

If the NEC can deny decades of documented retreat use here, it sets a dangerous precedent for every agritourism, hospitality, Existing Use, OFDU, and small-scale commercial operation along the Escarpment.

Our message is clear:

Independent businesses and small-scale operators deserve to be valued and supported

Land rights, local economic contributions, and ecological stewardship should be recognized, valued and supported

Legal precedent and NEC history should guide fair and consistent decisions

Longstanding businesses with proven positive impact should be safeguarded against unfounded challenges as the Niagara Escarpment Plan and standing Ontario legal precedent outline

That accountability matters when land rights, businesses, and property values are being affected
We need your voice. By signing this petition, you stand for fair governance, legal land rights, and the survival of ecologically responsible, community-rooted independent businesses in Ontario.

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In 2022, after years of dreaming, planning, and heartfelt intention, our family took the leap and purchased a breathtaking 86-acre Retreat Centre and orchard nestled along the Niagara Escarpment in Chatsworth, Grey County, Ontario.

We moved our family onsite and began the journey of restoring and revitalizing this incredible property, reawakening it as Bubble Grove Nature Escape & Rhythmic Roots Farm.

For over 40 years, this land has welcomed guests seeking rest, reflection, celebration, and connection with nature. Once known as Ridgewood Springs Retreat Centre, it offered religiously oriented group experiences, wellness gatherings, learning retreats, and farm-based enjoyment to more than 10,000 visitors since the early 1980’s, before the Niagara Escarpment Plan even came into effect on June 12, 1985.

While the previous owners were focused towards specifically hosting Christian guests and services, Bubble Grove opens its arms to all - welcoming everyone who leads with kindness, curiosity, and respect for the land and one another.

The intention is to build on this property's rich agritourism history and continue to share this land with the wider public - there are few opportunities for non-landowners to enjoy immersive experiences on the Escarpment, especially overnight. 

Properties like this are important for adding to the cultural, economic and ecologic vibrancy of this area.

Our plans for this legacy agritourism property are rooted in sustainable development and guided by ecologically sound planning. We’re investing in regenerative land stewardship with beyond organic practices and dedicating 5 acres as nature reserve while transitioning 15 acres of previously cultivated land into native meadows and grasslands. 

Our venue will be a hub for bringing local businesses, artists, educators, and facilitators together to connect and share through collaborations and special community events.  

We want to feed back into the community by sharing and donating from the foods that grow here. Through this, we aim to uphold community-positive business practices and continue to be a beneficial business and farm here in Grey County.

However, this vision is under threat.

When we arrived in 2022, we immediately began a conversation with the Niagara Escarpment Commission who oversees the planning on this property. 

The first step was to request a Property Information Report from the NEC that outlined all of the documents in their files which stated that there were NO compliance concerns on this property.

We then had a Pre Submission Review where we spoke with a Senior Policy advisor and Senior Planner who told us that in order for the NEC staff to confirm the Existing Use history of the property that we would need to present an independent lawyers review of the history of the site declaring that the planning history and available records supports this. So we did. 

In February 2023 we presented a 2 part Development Permit Application. The first part was to have official recognition of the historical retreat centre activities on the property designated as an Existing Use, and the 2nd part was to present an extension of that use with 5 guest domes and a Gathering Dome for workshops and events. It also included a future agricultural building for storing apples and equipment.

About this time, Grey County put out a call to tourism operators to offer events and experiences to help serve the many guests coming to Grey County that summer. We answered the call and presented an exciting and professional event for the area that would have raised money for the local food bank and featured dozens of diverse local artists and businesses. With 40 years of history as a commercial Existing Use retreat centre, this event was well within our rights as land owners to host.

Despite the ongoing decades of retreat and tourism use, a small group of individuals who have long been aware of the property's use and are close friends with the previous owners, decided they didn’t like us or our plans for an inclusive business or event on this property. 

Some of these neighbours themselves host large scale events with giant event tents, amplified music, parking up and down the road, hundreds of guests, and even landed a helicopter at a recent event while vilifying our similar use (though we have no intentions of landing helicopters for any of our use btw)

This group began actively working to deny the legacy operations here by making overblown complaints to local bylaw and the NEC.

Local bylaw came for a site visit and found no truth in the complaints. The complaints alleged intense illegal infrastructure and services across the property threatening the local ecology and causing a disturbance to the community.

The bylaw officers did a site visit and found nothing that supported any aspect of the complaints. The local bylaw officers recognized we were working with the NEC through our Development Permit towards confirming the historic Retreat Centre use, and let us know that further similar complaints against us with no truth or proof would be considered harassment.

The NEC never engaged a site visit.

Instead, on May 17 2023 I received a scathing phone call from an NEC compliance officer demanding complete closure of all of our business activities, including the event which was outside of the NEC's jurisdiction to control, as well as all hospitality related business activities declaring that we were establishing an unlawful change of use. 

The enforcement officer was furiously angry in response to the seriousness of the accusations against us, though with a few questions it became clear that she was also incredibly under informed.

No research was done before this phone call and accompanying Notice of Violation due to an unauthorized change of use. 

Compliance Officer Dykeman had no knowledge of the 40 years of active Retreat Centre use which was established by the previous owners under the full knowledge of the NEC, nor had she looked into the NEC’s own robust file on the property which included a Development Permit Application from 2000 which clearly outlines the “numerous Christian Retreats” hosted by the previous owners each year, as well as a Ridgewood Springs Retreat brochure from 2003 outlining services & pricing.

She also was completely unaware of our pre-submission review, nor the open Development Permit Application we had already filed with the NEC which was in the hands of a Senior Planner and had already been passed and returned for comments from local conservation, indigenous groups, the Municipality and County.

Once informed of all of this, and informed of the falsified complaint which had been followed up by local by-law, Compliance Officer Dykeman continued to demand closure of every aspect of our property including not only the retreat centre use but also all of our agricultural activities.

All without ever setting eyes on our land or confirming any aspect of the accusations were true.

All of this based on unsubstantiated claims from a group which has continued their campaign of opposition and legal challenges aimed at halting our lawful use of our property. 

Their actions have created significant emotional and financial strain for our family, placing the future of Bubble Grove in jeopardy.

Most concerning, the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) planning staff - public servants tasked with protecting fairness and transparency in land use - failed to properly investigate, analyze, or present the full breadth of evidence available. The Staff Report on our Development Permit presented to the Commission cherry-picked information and overlooked longstanding policies and precedents.

The neighbour group spoke one after another, introducing themselves as good Christians and discussing how nice and respectful the previous Christian owners and their Christian guests were. They then began to speak of how our intentions to continue to share the property would cause safety issues for our neighbours, lower their property values, ruin the local ecology, and destroy the fabric of their community. 

At no time did NEC staff mention that religion has no place in land use planning. They should have.

In a swirl of confusion, misinformation, and concerning jurisdictional overstepping, our first Development Permit Application was not given a fair slice in front of the Commission and we lost the vote.

Our opportunity to appeal was thwarted by another massive oversight by senior NEC staff directing us away from the appeal process to have a Delegation with the Commissioners, and then stating that Delegation was not actually available in this situation AFTER THE APPEAL PERIOD WAS OVER!

Staff refused to re-open the opportunity despite their responsibility in blocking our access to effectively question their actions on our file.
I have a written apology from the then NEC Director which outlines this crazy aspect of this ongoing saga.

If I, as a landowner, cannot trust the directions and guidance of a Senior Planner/Policy Advisor and the Director of the Niagara Escarpment Commission to properly guide me on NEC policy and process, who the heck can I turn to?

This is crazy!

Instead, we put forward our 2nd Development Permit Application focusing only on discussing and requesting confirmation of the Existing Use as the full conversation including the domes proved to complicated to be fairly evaluated by NEC staff.

NEC staff did not recognize the Existing Use and beyond this found numerous reasons to side with the neighbour group against us, holding their words above our actual evidence.

The neighbours have never presented any complaints or evidence of actual impact by our use and have continually stated that there was no negative outfalls from the decades of previous owners use hosting thousands and thousands of visitors.

At the first meeting for our 2nd application, there was another round of concerning presentations from the neighbours where they introduced themselves as Christians and went on to vilify our use in comparison to the many years of Christian ownership and services. 

This time when answering a question from one of the Commissioners, one of the main opponents against us stated that she was first aware of the previous owners using the property for their commercial retreats back in 1983.

Thankfully, in response to our 2nd Development Permit application, with the evidence laid out, the NEC Commissioners voted 13-2 majority to recognize and support the property's status as an Existing Use retreat centre. The Commissioners recognized the ongoing retreat use but did not specifically enshrine the open air short term accommodations / camping as an aspect of that use, leaving that conversation to a later date. 

We were disappointed that the full scope of use was not included in the decision but very grateful that the commercial history was recognized.

I brought our concerns of religious bias to our Senior NEC Planner. He ignored both of my attempts towards this conversation and to date their is no mention in the official file about our concerns, nor have the NEC looked into the falsified complaints and charged them as the NEP outlines should happen.

 The neighbour group appealed.

Some of the appeal letters speak to the neighbours ongoing awareness of the Retreat Centre, their friendships with the previous owners, their acceptance of the Christian use, statements about how compatible the previous owners retreat centre was with the local community and ecology, and then the same tropes about how our use will be so horribly different causing safety concerns, death and destruction to the local animals, forest fires, and even flooding.

No evidence has ever been presented to substantiate any of these claims. Because it doesn’t exist.

Yet somehow, even as our use was being recognized, the neighbour group was presenting more than just the appeal to the NEC, they made another complaint against our use of our property.

Again instead of giving weight to the documented evidence and now a NEC Commissioners decision recognizing our use, the same Compliance Officer who had still never visited our property, and the then Interim Director updated the original flawed Notice of Violation against our property now stating that even though our USE they originally vilified is now recognized, they are now making a claim against our dome and camp.

We submitted a 3rd Development Permit application for our minor dome based extension of the ongoing use.

The NEC stated they would wait for the appeal to be completed before looking at that DP.

The appeal lead to a 5 day hearing in October of 2024, which we won. A review was requested. it was turned down. 

Since May 13th 2025 our Existing Use has finally been recognized.

On June 1st the NEC director levied a 45 day removal Notice on our dome stating we did not have a development permit to build it.

We reminded them that the Chief Building Official for Chatsworth Municipality has inspected the dome and declared it is well within Building Code standard and does not require a permit to erect.

We also reminded them that they are holding a development permit to recognize our 1 single standing dome and the handful of additional dome tents we have hoped to use for sustainably hosting guests.

Why give a removal notice for a dome you hold the permit application for while stating a permit application is required but refusing to look at the application???

How can any landowner or business function under these practices? 

We are still waiting for the Development Permit we submitted in February of 2024 to be evaluated by staff. It is apparently still in the intake phase.

To date, we have been engaged in:

7 NEC meetings

Dozens of meetings, calls, and submissions

Tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and countless hours defending our right to continue a use that is well established and legally protected use

1 unsuccessful Development Permit to recognize the ongoing Existing Use Retreat Centre and our minor expansion to that Existing Use of 5 - 7 dome tents.

1 successful Development Permit to recognize the ongoing Existing Use Retreat Centre

7 appeal letters from neighbours who acknowledge that the property was an ongoing Christian Retreat Centre with zero negative impact but don't want us to continue that use. Why should our inclusive use be any different? Anywho, the NEC put their complaints forward and their appeal was granted.

6 OLT case management hearings - pre-hearing meetings to set the issues and details

5 day Ontario Land Tribunal Hearing - which we won!
The appellants brought zero evidence against the Existing Use. One complained that he needed all the roads for his many tractors. This is an issue outside of the scope of the Niagara Escarpment to govern on.

The other one agreed that as the 40 years of use had never actually negatively impacted him or his property, that on reflection of the full details he could not say that he was against the use continuing.

Great

5 month Request For Review - a request to the Chair if the OLT to review the legal decision of the Hearing Officer who oversaw our case. The review was denied and dismissed.

Our Existing Use was finally recognized and confirmed on May 13, 2025.

We are still working towards having the history of camping / open air accommodations in tents and RV's recognized, and our handful of accommodation domes confirmed.

We have not asked to expand the Existing Use base capacity of 33 - 50 overnight guests hosted by the previous owners. our proposal is to continue to do so.

We have provided:

NEC files dating back over 23 years showing business use - a 2000 Development Permit by the previous owners outlines numerous Christian Retreats each year and that this use was guiding the decisions for the property and land owners

A property Information Report drafted for our lawyer prior to our purchase which stated NO COMPLIANCE ISSUES ON THE PROPERTY

Brochures outlining services, pricing, location and contact information. One of these has been in the NEC files since 2007

Guest lists outlining dozens and dozens of retreats, weddings, camps, and events per year over multiple years

Letters and Emails from the previous owner confirming consistent annual retreat use since the 1980s including hosting guests in the farmhouse as well as open air camping on the property for decades

2 books written and published by the previous owner about his life and history of hosting camp based Christian retreats, establishing the retreat centre, and their hosting hundreds and hundreds of retreats on the property over their many decades of ownership.
Website and social media pages for the long established Retreat Centre stating that the previous owners specifically purchased the property 1982 to establish a Retreat Centre
2 eye witness statements from independent sources with decades of direct knowledge and no benefit from the outcome stating their numerous and ongoing experiences of seeing camping and hosting guests in RV's, tents and campers consistently for decades.

Listings in County and Municipal tourism directories

MLS advertisements identifying the property as a retreat centre

Legal analysis confirming the legitimacy of our Existing Use under provincial law and precedent

Many statements by the appellants against us that outline the ongoing Retreats, extensive compatible guests and commercial operations enjoyed by the previous owners and deemed acceptable by this very group

NO NEGATIVE IMPACT OVER 40 YEARS OF ACTIVE USE AND THOUSANDS OF GUESTS ON SITE
We have had ongoing and escalating compliance actions taken against us for simply doing what has always happened here on site.

If the list above is not enough to gain efficient and responsive support from the NEC for our Existing Use business with 40 years of ongoing and established economic benefit to a rural area, what properties and established uses are safe?

We greatly appreciate your support in our push for fair access to our property rights. 

We will continue to work towards being able to finally run our business unfettered by continual bureaucratic interference and the rampant people-zoning NIMBY’ism being foisted upon us by a small group of selfish dissenters. 

There is a better way to grow our communities and it begins with Accountability, Transparency, Clarity, Unbiassed Policy Decisions and Interpretations, and Efficient Processes that help not hinder Community Development and Rural Economic Vitality.

Thank you truly!

With love and hope,
Alexis & Andrew

📧 hello@bubblegrove.ca
Insta: @bubble.grove

As a note: We are looking for solutions to keep advocating forward and to open our business again fully. All of our funds for building our business have gone towards defending our land rights.

We are looking for partners, or investors, or a private lender who sees the work we are doing, believes in this endeavour, recognizes our grit and capacity, and is passionate about continuing to grow this legacy agritourism opportunity. We welcome you to reach out for a discussion and private tour if this is a realm your can help in.