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Letter to Township of Alnwick-Haldimand from A Shelter Valley Resident:
July 06, 2003RE: PROPOSED ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENT PART LOT 5 & 6, CONCESSION 3, IN THE FORMER TOWNSHIP OF HALDIMAND FROM RU TO M3.
Dear Mayor Finley and Members of Council: As a resident, landowner and taxpayer of Alnwick-Haldimand Township (A/H), this letter serves as notice of my objection to:
• approval of the above proposed By-Law amendment
• the proposed change or exception to (contained within Zoning By-Law amendment application) the Environmental Control (EC) designation of the property north of the proposed pit;
• the pit in any form. I respectfully ask that this letter be read in its entirety, and that A/H Township, Northumberland County, Lower Trent Conservation Authority and all of the Province of Ontario's relevant ministries conduct independent peer reviews of all aspects of this application. The proposed pit and its many inherent associated negative impacts (noise, dust, increased traffic, serious safety issues, road wear and tear, destruction of environment and habitat, depreciation of property values, loss of quality of life, rape of the landscape and associated views etc.), directly contradict/contravene many tenets of the Official Plan of Haldimand Township (April 2003 Text Consolidation). Italicized statements that follow are direct excerpts from Haldimand's Official Plan. Statements in boldface are comments of the writer, and those boldface statements within "quotation marks" are verbatim from the Gartner Lee Limited (GLL) report and/or site plan. Objectives 3(b) ... particular care will be exercised to ensure that forested lands, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest, cold water streams, and wetlands are protected.
"Approximately 50% of the 56ha property is forested", and the environmental assessments carried out by GLL exemplify that desecration of this "significant woodlands" would result in the entire loss of habitat to at least 36 species of breeding birds "based on a one day breeding bird survey...", 16 species of regionally significant plants, "a mosaic or deciduous, mixed and coniferous forest". Although the "OMNR has not identifed any winter deer range within 120 m of the property", there is personal observation of not only winter deer ranging, but breeding and fawning evidence. Within 120 metres of the site (boundary area to be licensed), there is "Cold Creek, which is a coldwater stream, lies 120 m to the northeast" ... "no appreciable impact to fish habitat is expected."
Under the Fisheries Act anything is "appreciable" with respect to fish habitat. Objectives 3(c) ...council recognizes that the Official Plan cannot alone guarantee the environmental health of the community. Private stewardship of land, incentive programs, community based actions and public education will go even further in the proper management of the environment.
It took actions of neighbours to make the applicant accountable to the Ministry of Environment for the applicant's horrendous concept of land stewardship, defiant lack of concern for the environment and for the health of surrounding residents, and his eventual guilty plea for ... an illegal dump site, unlicensed waste disposal site, bringing garbage in from Toronto, recycling, incineration and landfill ... (Cobourg Daily Star, June 15, 1992). Will someone with this track record work within the limits of a permit? Neighbours should not be responsible for the lack of accountability of the applicant. The applicant, therefore, has a bona fide record of non-compliance, which the Township and Provincial Ministries must take very seriously in considering this application. Development Agreements(16)(d) ... An applicant must enter into a development agreement with the municipality. This agreement shall be entered into prior to Council's enactment of the Implementing Zoning By-Law. Such an agreement shall include: i) rehabilitation ... ; iii) exact routes, road damage repair assumed by operator; ...
Has the township demanded a Letter of Credit from the applicant to accompany his Development Agreement, and if so, for how much? If not, why not? Objectives 3(d) ...only development which will provide sufficient revenue to keep additional cost of providing the required municipal services to a minimum shall be permitted.
According to the proposed site plan and Ontario Aggregates Act, the township will gain $0.04 per tonne of extracted material, and the proposed annual maximum extraction is 500,000 tonnes. This would only amount to a maximum of $20,000 in annual levies that the township could receive. how can this pittance possible compare with the inevitable reductions of property assessments to all devalued properties within the area, and the resultant decrease in taxes received from these properties by the township? Within the last few weeks, countless gravel trucks have travelled nearby Pipeline Road from County Road 23 to supply gravel material to the Trans Canada Pipeline Station's construction needs. Travelling that road daily, there has been a severe deterioration to the quality of the road requiring serious resurfacing (but getting cursory cold patching), safety issues due to the blind curves on the road and sharing this narrow local road with behemoths of gravel trucks. The nature and quality of Pipeline Road is similar to Shelter Valley Road; it is proposed that up to 520 trucks per operating day (times TWO for entry and exit) could travel in and out of the proposed pit. Who will bear the burden for costs of repairing and maintaining this road and tributary roads that will also be impacted? The applicant would be reaping the benefits of raping the land, but would he be solely responsible for this? Objectives 3 (e) ... industrial and commercial development requiring minimal services shall be encouraged in appropriate locations in order to develop the local economy and to improve the tax base of the Municipality, provided, however, that it is compatible with the natural environment.
How can a 56 ha gravel pit possible be compatible with the existing pastoral, scenic, and agricultural nature of the immediate and surrounding environs of the part of Alnwick/Haldimand Township? Traffic, noise, dust, road damage, and decreased safety will result. Section 5 - Land Use - Existing Land Uses (2) (a) (iii) ... that traffic and parking conditions of the vicinity will not be adversely affected by the application.
Development Agreements (16) (d) ... An applicant must enter into a development agreement with the municipality. This agreement shall be entered into prior to Council's enactment of the Implementing Zoning By-Law. Such and agreement shall include: (i) rehabilitation ..;, (iii) exact routes, road damage repair assumed by operator; ... .
Page 102 - 103 ... local roads should not serve major traffic generating areas. They are designed to carry low volumes of local traffic and provide access to individual properties. ... any proposals to widen, extend or improve roads in the Municipality should take into account the scenic factors and natural attributes of the adjacent lands, particularly trees which may be on or near the road allowance. There is no evidence of a comprehensive traffic study having been undertaken at the time of writing. Increased traffic, noise, dust, road damage, and decreased safety will result. Numerous school bus routes and children, pedestrians, agricultural farm (slow moving) vehicles, small home-based businesses and cyclists use Shelter Valley Road. Shelter Valley Road has ong been a Northumberland tourist attraction luring environmentalists, road rallyers, produce consumers, and many others to its beauty, natural features and tranquility. Rural Residential (11) ... development shall not be permitted near aggregate resource areas which may be developed into a commercially viable operation.
Despite what the Official Plan states above, numerous severances have been accorded in the immediate vicinity of the proposed pit, not only up and down SHelter Valley Road, but also on Turk Road. What is "near" to this township? 100m, 1000m, 2km ...? Obviously poor planning has occured within the past. your rejection of this application can ensure that Shelter Valley, an integral part of the Township, remains environmentally and residentially sound. Aggregate Resource (16) (i) ... (d) land use planning report to include: ... impact on transportation system. Development Agreements (16) (d) ... An application must enter into a development agreement with the municipality. This agreement shall be entered into prior to Council's enactment of the Implementing Zoning By-Law. Such and agreement shall include: i) rehabilitation ..;, iii) exact routes, road damage repair assumed by operator; ... .
Page 102 - 103 ... local roads should not serve major traffic generating areas. They are designed to carry low volumes of local traffic and provide access to individual properties. ... any proposals to widen, extend or improve roads in the Municipality should take into account the scenic factors and natural attributes of the adjacent lands, particularly trees which may be on or near the road allowance.
"Aggregate shipping will be via a new north boundary site entrance" contradicts the statement elsewhere in the report that it will use "an existing driveway location". ... "Off-site haulage will occur by dump trucks, with majority of traffic expected to travel east on Shelter Valley Road to its junction with Percy Street." Shelter valley Road is a local road, and does not meet with Percy Street. Rather, Cramahe Township's Pipeline Road meets with the eastern A/H end of Shelter Valley Road, and it is Pipeline Road, another local road which meets with County Road 25, Percy Street. There is no guarantee which roads trucks would take to and from the proposed pit. They coudld go anywhere in the townships that they please, east or west on Shelter Valley Road, and onto a myriad of other roads from there, most of which are classed as local roads. Has the township demanded a Letter of Credit from the applicant to accompany his Development Agreement and if so, how much? If not, why not? Section 20 Environmental Control ... detailed delineation of Environmental COntrol ... must be precise and ... (e) application to rezone EC lands for other purposes must consult with the conservation authority and the MInistry of Natural Resources.
The details of the exact EC area, the proposed area of exception, and the area that would be appreciable are vague and inexact as presented. Therefore the report comment on the fisheries "no apprecible impact to fish habitat", cannot be taken at face value, and is therefore unreliable. In addition, unless presented otherwise to the Lower Trent Conservation Authority than it appears in the application, LTCA cannot make an informed statement in support of this exception without knowing the exact delineation of not only the EC area, but the details of the impact on fish habitiat (neither of which they have shown in their correspondence and comments included in the report to be privy to). Therefore, their lack of objection to this could be flawed. Nowhere in the report does the MNR state their acceptance to the EC exception being made. The Township must carefully consider all informed reports on this issue, and therefore ask for peer reviews of all aspects of the applicant's report, including the LTCA's "dropping" of the identification of a portion of the property as part of Tubbs Corners Significant Natural Area (SNA) designation from the property. During the time of the GLL field investigations, the area was classified under drought conditions, so perhaps the "spring, a surface water connection to the east" mentioned in the Brownell and Blaney Report (1995) was not apparent, or the investigation was not comprehensive enough in locating it. It is reported that no impact will be made on the quantity or quality of the groundwater in the area. Common sense suggest that to extract sand and gravel adjacent to a closed landfill whose contents are unknown, and also consider increasing the capacity of a water bottling venture's well output directly to the south, is incongruous and ridiculous. "There is a closed landfill site to the south of the property. Investigations by the landowner of the closed landfill confirm that the waste is south of the property line and off-site." GET AN INDEPENDENT PEER REVIEW OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS LANDFILL! Don't risk the health and safety of residents based on the results of "investigations by the landowner", someone who has a history of non-environmental compliance or concern. Therefore, due diligence must be practiced by both the Municipality and the Provincial Ministries, as the liability of a groundwater issue could fall back on the Municipality in the event of an adverse situation. No explanation has been made anywhere in the report as to how the applicant will be made accountable by whom for environmental damage, road damage and repair, extraction below the water table, noise and equipment use in excess of permit allowances. No where is stated the positions of the Pipelines or Provincial Ministries involved in this application. No evidence has been provided of the mandatory Development Agreement between the applicant and Municipality. If these are going to be provided at the information session of July 9, held a few mere hours (during a work day) before the Public Meeting on July 9, at least 90 days should be allowed for additional independent studies before COuncil makes their decision. My personal experience working in a pet as a labourer and truck driver, with all the related equipment such as crushers, screeners, loaders, etc., shows that water is an essential component of similar operations, and excessive noise and dust are inevitable by-products. Where does the applicant intend on getting their water from? It is stated that no water taking will be required? This application represents very serious issues and deserves your utmost attention and informed decision. It will impact the residents and township for many decades to come. Respectfully submitted,
A Shelter Valley Resident cc: Dr. Doug Galt, MPP Northumberland
Mayor Jim Williams and Cramahe Council Members