Critics slam province for rezoning farmland
Phinjo Gombu urban affairs reporter - Toronto Star
The province has caved in to developers – and short-term worries about jobs – and disregarded its long-term war on sprawl, by allowing prime farmland just north of the Greenbelt to be turned over to industry, environmentalists and residents say.
The Municipal Affairs ministry's intention to change the zoning of more than 500 hectares near Highways 400 and 88, between Bond Head and the urban area of Bradford West Gwillimbury, will allow Toromont Industries to transfer its Vaughan operations to a 40-hectare site there.
The Star first reported in March that Toromont, an assembler and distributor of large industrial equipment, had threatened to move to Manitoba – putting hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs at risk – if it wasn't permitted to build on that site.
The province's settlement document shows how the cost of allocating 40 hectares to Toromont and servicing that area with water and sewer pipes could only be justified with more development.
The move is the thin edge of the wedge, says David Donnelly, a lawyer for Environmental Defence.
The decision violates the province's Places to Grow plan, invites further sprawl in an area that has no public transit and will promote more highway congestion, Donnelly said yesterday.
Places to Grow, a sweeping, long-range attempt to manage growth across southern Ontario, prescribes intensified development in particular areas to limit sprawl. The much-heralded plan has earned the prestigious Daniel Burnham planning award from the American Planning Association.
The provincial rezoning orders "are inexplicable and effectively cut the province's award-winning Places to Grow legislation to ribbons," said Donnelly. He described the plan as a prime example of tic-tac-toe development that, as feared, has begun to "leapfrog" over the protected Greenbelt area.
Jeffrey Davies, a lawyer for the developers, Geranium and Metrus Developments, called that characterization unfortunate.
"We are at a time in our economy where there is a desperate need for jobs, and we have no other similarly large tracts of land for large-scale industries available in southern Ontario," Davies said. "It is anything but caving in. To the contrary, this is good, sound, responsible planning."
Local dairy farmer Robert Keffler, representing the group Bond Head Bradford West Gwillimbury Residents for Responsible Development, said the urbanization being welcomed by local politicians as a "lifeline to the future" threatens nearby agricultural land.
"We are in a good farming area," said Keffler. "We think it's decidedly not good environmental or agricultural planning to build a new industrial node beside a flood plain that drains into the Holland Marsh, Ontario's salad bowl."
Documents show that secret negotiations among the province, developers and local municipalities were prompted by Toromont's decision to move its head office, training, and manufacturing and distribution operations to the area.
The company is being forced out of the path of Toronto's subway as it is expanded. It has denied that any more than 500 jobs were ever in play, or that it threatened to move out of the province.
Senior officials in the ministries of municipal affairs and infrastructure had questioned enthusiasm for new employment nodes on Highway 400, saying there was an "oversupply" of designated employment lands in south Simcoe County. They had expected to challenge the project at the Ontario Municipal Board, but a high-level decision to enter into negotiations put an abrupt end to that plan.
The province has also agreed to allow a tenfold expansion of the nearby hamlet of Bond Head – increasing its population to 4,500 from 500 – on about 210 hectares. It would be serviced on the same utility lines as the employment zone.
The agreement needs OMB approval, and future development is subject to an environmental assessment process, as well as the Lake Simcoe Protection Act.
There's further pressure for sprawl north along Highway 400, with the Town of Innisfil pushing for an employment zone on its own strip of agricultural land. The province is already challenging parts of that plan before the Ontario Municipal Board – as it had planned to do in the Bradford West Gwillimbury area before deciding to negotiate over the Toromont deal.
Existing land zoned for employment within the Bradford West Gwillimbury urban limits will now be "frozen" and come into play only if a bypass connecting Highway 400 and Highway 404 is built. The province's current growth plan does not contemplate such a bypass.
Ontario is trying to cap the number of homes built in south Simcoe over the next 25 years. The limit is close to half what developers want.
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Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/634129
Urgent Court Application for Stay of Lake Simcoe Ontario Municipal Board Hearing
Environmental Defence (www.environmentaldefence.ca)
First Nations objection ignored at mega-marina hearing
Toronto, Ontario – The Huron-Wendat Nation has filed a rare, urgent application for judicial review with the Ontario Superior Court to shut down the controversial Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing regarding the proposed mega-marina at Big Bay Point in Simcoe County, Ontario.
“The Huron-Wendat Nation does not want to stop all development but we also don’t want developers and complicit municipalities making unilateral decisions about our history and rights either,” said Luc Lainé, cultural heritage liaison for the Huron-Wendat in Ontario. “The destruction of so many of our sites without even the same notice afforded to utilities and ratepayers is a great tragedy for all First Nations that can be so easily corrected.”
The Court is asked to review the actions of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Culture, the Ontario Municipal Board, the County of Simcoe, and the Town of Innisfil. All of these parties had a copy of an archaeological report as early as 2004 disclosing the presence of First Nations cultural artifacts and potential aboriginal burials on the site of the proposed development at Big Bay Point.
Despite this knowledge, no notice of the findings was given to First Nations, and no First Nation consultation occurred with regards to the development. In a letter written by Grand Chief Max <<One Onti>> Gros Louis to The Honorable John Gerretson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Grand Chief Gros Louis outlined Ontario’s shameful history of destroying literally thousands of significant and sacred sites, stating, “[w]e draw the line at Huronia”.
The Huron-Wendat Nation alleges that the proponent meticulously notified and consulted a broad range of stakeholders about the development, including Canada Post and Rogers Cable.
“Early notice and consultation with First Nations and environmental groups in Seaton – a new development in Pickering, Ontario – has resulted in significant improvements, both with respect to planning and environmental protection,” said Dr. Rick Smith, Executive Director, Environmental Defence. “It is up to Courts to end the troublesome double standard illustrated at Big Bay Point in land use planning that grants full rights to commercial interests like Rogers Cable but excludes interested First Nations.”
In the Big Bay Point development, the Provincial Facilitator convened negotiations between the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Ontario Municipal Board, the County of Simcoe, the Town of Innisfil, and Kimvar Enterprises Inc. (the developer). The parties entered into a binding agreement supporting the development and promising not to oppose or assist any others in opposing the development. No notice was given of these negotiations to First Nations.
“Residents have known about First Nations use and occupation of Big Bay Point for over a century,” said Don Avery, president of the Innisfil District Association. “Contacting First Nations is a very important responsibility. When this responsibility is not fulfilled, it endangers the entire process.”
The Ontario Municipal Board hearing for the Big Bay Point development started on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 without formal notice to First Nations.
The Huron-Wendat Nation is asking the Ontario Superior Court to find that these government actors violated their constitutional and common law administrative duty to notify and consult with First Nations when considering actions that may infringe their aboriginal rights. The Supreme Court has clearly stated that the Crown’s duty to consult with First Nations is broad and based on the honour of the Crown. The duty arises when the Crown contemplates conduct that may affect aboriginal rights. The court is being asked to stop the Ontario Municipal Board hearing, quash the minutes of settlement resulting from the negotiations between the parties, and order that First Nations be afforded formal notice and consulted.
The Big Bay Point development calls for 1,600 resort units (fractional ownership), 400 hotel units, a 1,000 slip marina on a man-made bay, and an 18-hole golf course. Groups around the Lake, including Campaign Lake Simcoe, support the argument that the project should not be permitted at this scale and should be subject to the proposed Lake Simcoe Protection Act.
The specific applicable Regulations to the Planning Act require formal notice to First Nations Reserves within 1 km of the site of the proposed development. The Huron-Wendat Nation is located in Wendake, Quebec. The law effectively states that proponents will never need to notify the Huron-Wendat Nation, despite the fact that thousands of ancestral Huron cultural heritage and sacred sites lie in the path of development.
For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Jennifer Foulds, Environmental Defence, (416) 323-9521 ext. 232; (647) 280-9521
Don Avery, President, Innisfil District Association, (416) 997-7836
Luc Lainé, Huron-Wendat Nation, (418) 580-6205
Salamanders Take Round Against Proposed Greenbelt Quarry
Environmental Defence (www.environmentaldefence.ca)
Province Declares Grindstone Creek Headwaters to be Provincially Significant Wetlands
Toronto, Ontario -- Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL) and Environmental Defence have received notice from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources that a series of wetlands on Mount Nemo in Burlington, the Grindstone Creek Headwaters Wetland Complex, have been designated as Provincially Significant.
Jennifer Foulds, Environmental Defence, (416) 323-9521 ext. 232; (647) 280-9521 (cell)
David Donnelly, (416) 722-0220 (cell)
Sarah Harmer, PERL, info@perlofburlington.org
Ruling paves way for `green' Seaton
Eco-friendly community for 70,000 `truly looks like a go' after developer fails to get Supreme Court hearing
Canada's top court has cleared the way for the province to build Ontario's largest environmentally friendly community for 70,000 people in north Pickering.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled yesterday it would not grant developer Silvio De Gasperis leave to appeal a lower court decision that rejected his argument that planning for Seaton was flawed and done without adequate consultation.
"This plan has become law and it clearly sets a strong direction for the community of Seaton," said Bruce Singbush, a senior official with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
"It means the plans for the community of Seaton are final," he said yesterday, pointing out that – if municipal planning decisions move ahead on time – shovels could hit the ground within five years.
The ruling allows for the real work to begin – planning for what environmentalists and government officials promise will be Canada's largest, most complex and significant eco-friendly community, built on 55 per cent of a 6,000-hectare land parcel east of West Duffins Creek.
About 45 per cent of the Seaton lands are already protected as green space and a natural heritage system that is defined by numerous streams and brooks.
In addition to the 70,000 residents, the plan calls for the creation about 35,000 jobs in the area.
If the plan, the result of three years of consultations, comes to fruition, it would result in a one-of-a-kind community of 15 compact neighbourhoods bordering forests and streams.
The plan calls for, among other things:
The disappointed developer said the ruling "is what it is," adding he thought it was unfortunate for Pickering taxpayers but the law of the land must be respected.
Seaton's planning principles, laid down by the province, now have to be executed by the city of Pickering, which still prefers development on De Gasperis's lands.
The Seaton lands saga began in the 1970s when Ontario expropriated about 6,000 hectares of land bordering West Duffins Creek and the Pickering-Ajax boundary between Highway 7 and the railway corridor for a planned federal airport and community.
Plans for the community lay dormant for decades until kick-started by a Liberal-engineered plan to swap developers' land in the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine for land in Seaton.
That swap and the decision to include in the greenbelt the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve – where De Gasperis owned land – triggered a bitter battle between the developer and the government. De Gasperis said the Seaton lands were more environmentally sensitive than his and it made more sense to build on his lands because they were serviced, a position supported by Pickering.
De Gasperis still has one outstanding court challenge that questions the environmental assessment of the land swap.
David Donnelly, a lawyer for Environmental Defence and an aboriginal group called the Founding Nations Circle – which worked with the province during the planning process for Seaton – said the community "truly looks like a go."
But Donnelly cautioned that the key to Seaton's success lies in the fulfillment of a Liberal promise that Seaton would be built to the highest possible environmental standards – and that it would set the bar for how future growth will be handled.
Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan said he was disappointed with the ruling but he is willing to work with the province.
"Seaton has the potential to be the most sustainable development in Canada," he said.
But Ryan warned that will happen only if the provincial and federal governments pay for some key costs, including the mass transit and jobs component. "It's not something Pickering can do on its own," he said.
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Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/182457
Environmental Defence Joins Niagara Escarpment Effort
Environmental Defence (www.environmentaldefence.ca)
National environmental group supports local group's work to stop quarry in Greenbelt
Toronto, Ontario – Environmental Defence is joining forces with Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (“PERL”) to protect the Niagara Escarpment in Burlington, Ontario which is under threat from a massive limestone quarry proposal. Nelson Aggregate is proposing a new quarry situated in the heart of Mount Nemo, a significant landform on the Niagara Escarpment and in Ontario’s Greenbelt.
“The quarry application is mired in technical difficulties because the applicant chose a very sensitive area, one that is ultimately not suitable for quarry development,” said PERL co-founder Sarah Harmer. “After considerable review, our resolve is strong that we oppose this proposal. Gaining national recognition from Environmental Defence is very important to us. It will help us get the message out there to the public, especially during the current provincial by-election in Burlington.”
Jennifer Foulds, Environmental Defence, (416) 323-9521 ext. 232; (647) 280-9521 (cell)
David Donnelly, (416) 722-0220 (cell)
Sarah Harmer, PERL, info@perlofburlington.org
Natives say land deal left them out
If seven Indian groups win court battle with province over consultation process, critics say it could open a Pandora's box of negotiations across Ontario
Little, it seems, stands in the way of southern Ontario's booming development industry.
But the shards and fragments of centuries-old Indian artifacts, village sites and burial grounds lying just below the earth's surface could trip up more than a few bulldozers.
An Ontario court is considering whether the province should have consulted more with some native groups in a planned land swap. If the court rules against the province, it could thwart "anybody dealing with land," said lawyer David Donnelly, who represents the Huron-Wendat First Nation. The band, which occupied most of the area around Toronto about 400 years ago, is now based near Quebec City.
In essence, it could force those involved in major land transactions to engage in protracted consultations with a wide variety of native groups.
"If they open the door to this, then we are into a very vast, broad and almost excessively onerous responsibility on both private and public proponents," Donnelly said this week.
The case involves a 2002 provincial land swap aimed at stopping subdivisions on the Oak Ridges moraine. The controversial deal, which gave developers provincially owned land in Pickering in exchange for environmentally sensitive property in Richmond Hill, was supposed to be completed in March 2005.
But a provincial development plan for the Pickering lands, known as Seaton, was not approved until last spring and an environmental assessment of the land exchange wasn't completed until July.
Just as the province was preparing to finalize the transaction, Indian activist David Sanford, along with developers opposed to the deal, appealed the environmental assessment, arguing that native groups outside the Huron-Wendat had not been properly consulted.
Since then, seven other Indian bands have joined forces to halt the transaction and last week spent four days in Divisional Court arguing that the province had both a statutory and a constitutional duty to consult them during the process.
The three-judge panel has reserved its decision until February.
"We think this case shows that government really needs to get its act together when it comes to First Nations consultation," said lawyer Nicholas Tibollo.
A government spokesman was reluctant to speculate on the outcome of the case.
Southern Ontario was home to Indians for centuries before and during European colonization, and the soil is filled with artifacts, former village sites and burial grounds, said Donnelly. But few efforts have been made until recently to preserve this cultural heritage when it was threatened by development.
Since 2004, when a justice of the peace ruled the province failed to adequately consult Indians on the sale of land to the Roman Catholic Church in Markham, representatives of the three major First Nations groups with roots in southern Ontario have been working on a streamlined consultation process with government.
The Huron-Wendat, Anishinabe and Iroquois have made significant progress in Seaton, Donnelly said. "Historic" agreements to preserve and honour Huron-Wendat village sites in the area could be lost if the courts send everyone back to the drawing board again, he added. And that's why the Indians' court challenge, supported by developers who oppose the Seaton land swap, is so frustrating, Donnelly said.
Lawyers representing the seven opposing bands say the streamlined consultation process has no official status among Ontario Indians or government, and it didn't include them
Aboriginal law expert Joseph Magnet, acting for six of the bands, said government notices sent to four of his clients were never received and that reported phone calls and meetings to discuss the Seaton land transfer with a government consultant are "pure fiction."
"The facts are that none of my clients were ever contacted," he told the court.
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Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/125648--natives-say-land-deal-left-them-out