Submission to the Greenbelt Task Force
A portion of this was presented to the Planning and Development Committee
June 22, 2004 by Mark Rudolph

• My name is Mark Rudolph
  
  
• Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the Task Force this evening; I am here representing some residents, farmers and agricultural businesses, and tourist operators among others from the North Flamborough area of the new City of Hamilton - Mr. Chair - an area that wanted to be part of the City of Burlington
  
  
• We'd like to commend you for your time commitment and your work, to date
  
  
• Indeed, we support smart growth and the provincial growth management initiative and it is difficult to take exception to the vision, goals, and core elements of the task force's discussion paper
  
  
• What we believe is missing from the work - necessary before the Greenbelt Protection Act is finalized and before this initiative gets to the working group stage - is Priority Setting
  
  
• It is very clear that urban uses, principally housing development, are to be dissuaded in the greenbelt and rural areas, in favour of core redevelopment, brown field sites, and other available lands in urban settlement areas
  
  
• What is less clear is how other uses in rural areas are to be treated
  
  
• The discussion paper speaks to the 5 layers of the greenbelt - environmental protection, agricultural protection, transportation and infrastructure, natural resources, and culture, recreation & tourism - noting that no priority should be taken from their order and that their relevance/priority will vary regionally based on the geography of the greenbelt
  
  
• We believe that is not enough
  
  
• We all know that other layers - transportation & infrastructure and natural resources - let's just call it aggregates - are important to our existing and future community health and economic growth so we are not here as "anti-roads" and "anti-aggregates" activists
  
  
• What we'd like you to take away from this brief presentation are the concepts of "Conservation First" and "Certainty "
  
  
• The preamble of Bill 27 speaks distinctly to containing further urban sprawl and protecting environmentally sensitive land and farmland for the long term
  
  
• So, let's not pussy foot around - those are the 2 priorities - how do we protect what little is left of them? This requires provincial leadership and no fear of local autonomy concerns. Local autonomy is what got us here.
  
  
• Your work has outlined some of the answers but you need to provide more direction on the 2 priorities, how to ensure consistency across the greenbelt, and how to resolve conflicts when important uses are raised which challenge the primacy of environmental protection and agricultural uses
  
  
• We can perhaps learn more about how to give those 2 priorities precedence by looking to work in the conservation community
  
  
• Consider WWF's Conservation First Principle: there should be no new or expanded uses until a network of protected areas is reserved which adequately represents the natural regions affected by that development"
  
  
• We need to ensure that protected areas are just that - look at the map of the Greenbelt Alliance for areas that are currently protected and suggestions for those that need more protection - let's get busy and carve up the map
  
  
• Then, sensitive development can proceed outside of protected areas using the latest technology and approaches to minimize adverse impacts on wildlife, ecosystem function, or local cultures
  
  
• Ensuring sensitive development on the landscape outside protected areas through advanced land-use planning provides certainty
  
  
• Then - everyone knows what uses can occur, where, and can make their purchase and investment decisions appropriately - that is certainty
  
  
• Certainty is important for everyone - for farmers, other agricultural operators, recreation & tourist operators, aggregate producers, homeowners and others
  
  
• If you do your jobs well - and if the province does its job well through establishment of the appropriate legislative enabling framework and implementation tools - then municipalities outside the NEC jurisdiction will reflect the greenbelt appropriately in their official plans and in their planning processes
  
  
• That should mean fewer use conflicts and fewer appeals to whatever tribunals are established
  
  

• To give you an example of why priority setting, certainty and recommendations around the tools to achieve these are important, I'd like to quickly raise a local case study
  
  
• As you are aware, the Minister of Municipal Affairs proposed some amendments to the Greenbelt Zoning Order based on recommendations from the Greenbelt Task Force and based on input from municipalities, such as the City of Hamilton, and others who were seeking some local flexibility for initiatives that were well underway in the planning/approval process.
  
  
• The principles around the Minister's amendments are familiar to you since you recommended them - so I won't repeat them.
  
  
• Hamilton's Planning & Economic Development Committee met on May 19, 2004
  
  
• It considered a walk-on report from the General Manager of the Division dated May 17, 2004, at the beginning of the meeting
  
  
• The report from staff added a proposed amendment to permit zoning by-law changes for aggregate extraction operations to a list originally compiled in February 2004
  
  
• The lack of notice on an agenda did not permit other Councillors not on the Committee an opportunity to attend to discuss its contents and implications- nor did it permit the Councillors in attendance to fully read and consider the contents and implications
  
  
• This does not even permit the minimal level of representative government, let alone opportunity for citizen input
  
  
• The report outlined a proposed City response to the Minister's request for consultation on the proposed amendments to the zoning order which was due for May 25
  
  
• The report was approved without discussion and the City Clerk directed to forward it to the Ministry - even prior to Council discussion tonight where some of our other area residents are in attendance - surely, the City is familiar that the province has historically considered responses after deadlines
  
  
• To be fair, many of the items in the proposed response are consistent with the Minister's proposed amendments and with the City's February report and they should be supported by Council
  
  
• I reiterate, however, that the addition of subsection iv) zoning by-law changes to permit aggregate extraction pits and quarries, is an addition
  
  
• Nor are zoning by-law changes to permit aggregate extraction pits & quarries consistent with the Minister's principles: they are not minor variances, they are not minor in scope/scale, they rarely enjoy local support and they are not agricultural or agricultural support use
  
  

• You may wonder why we are concerned about this City report and the inclusion of zoning by-law changes related to aggregate extraction pits & quarries, even though it is only a recommendation to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, which may not even be accepted by him
  
  
• Frankly, it is a matter of principle and due process
  
  
• our community is very concerned and opposed to a 380 acre aggregate extraction operation being proposed for 11 th Concession East in Flamborough
  
  
• an application is being prepared but has not yet been officially filed since the City cannot legally receive one for a zoning change under the moratorium - there is the opinion that an Official Plan amendment may be required as well
  
  
• the area is agricultural/rural in the Official Plan and is not zoned for aggregate extraction
  
  
• the area is in the "foothills" of the Escarpment, is home to Carolinian forest and other significant terrestrial ecology, regionally significant wetlands, and their wildlife and habitat
  
  
• the area concessions are home to residences, and a variety of agricultural uses: beef and dairy, sheep, vegetable, and fruit farms, burgeoning organic farms of a variety of types, and horse breeding, training & stabling operations, among others; and family tourism opportunities
  
  
• indeed, the property immediately adjacent to the proposed quarry was developed as a horse breeding, training and stabling operation within the last two years - a trend in the area as feeding operations to the nearby Mohawk Raceway and Flamborough Downs
  
  
• the owner has invested well over $1 million in state of the art buildings and training facilities based on the City's official plan and zoning for the area
  
  
• one might ask why this investment consistent, with the City's official plan and with greenbelt objectives, should even be facing a threat from a proposed aggregate operation that is not even authorized by plan nor zoning
  
  
• three subdivisions abut the proposed quarry grounds and another subdivision is a short distance down the 11 th
  
  
• 2 schools - Balaclava Public and the recently constructed Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic schools - are located one concession south of the proposed quarry on the 10 th - area students are bused
  
  
• the village of Carlisle and its quaint town centre - the famous "four corners" are but a stone's throw away
  
  
• groundwater quantity and quality protection is already an issue in the area with the City studying how to address concerns related to its wellheads and recharge areas that service the Carlisle location and nearby Freelton, Greensville and Lynden
  
  

• The proponent of the aggregate operation has not been a model corporate citizen either - the only attempt to contact local farmers, agricultural and tourism businesses, and residents has been to try to purchase their properties not to outline the proposal, receive input and concerns and consider alternatives
  
  

• The current and future battles over this matter and many others like it would not be needed if the 2 priorities of environmental protection and farmland had been clearly addressed in the past, and if the City's official plan clearly identified areas for protection, areas for aggregate development, and areas for other uses
  
  

• We look forward to your Task Force making a difference on the 2 priorities and helping to establish a meaningful and sustainable contribution for greenbelt protection for the future