CONCERNS LINGER OVER SECOND COLUMBIA SCHOOL SUBMISSION

ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTRY COMMENT PERIOD CONTINUES TO JAN. 24

Unaddressed road safety concerns, and negative environmental impacts of a proposed 1,000-student private secondary school on Northcliffe Avenue are among arguments raised in the Pleasant View Protection Association's written submission opposing the updated Columbia International College Niagara Escarpment Plan amendment application.

Association chair Janet Linton sent the organization's comments to Nancy Mott, the commission's senior strategic advisor, Jan. 13 - one day before the NEC deadline for comments.

Comments can still be made, until Jan. 24, through the province's environmental registry website (https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-2343).

Despite the two separate deadlines, NEC staff say all comments will be equally considered in a review of Columbia's application.

Commission spokesperson Danielle D'Silva suggested there could be future public meetings, at both the city and NEC level, plus a commission meeting to consider the final staff report and recommendation, where the public will have further opportunities to comment.

The City of Hamilton is also reviewing an official plan amendment application from Columbia to permit the proposed change in use.

"We urge the NEC to turn down this proposal," Pleasant View Protection Association chair Linton stated in an email to Mott.

An attached submission includes eight specific objections to the proposal, the second submitted by Columbia.

Among the concerns raised in the group's submission are: reduction of flora and fauna negatively impacting the surrounding ecosystem; loss of green space and natural habitat to urban use; threats to area streams and water supply from expanded waste water treatment; traffic increases resulting in more vehicle emissions and fragmenting of wildlife habitat; and general concern about the proposed institutional urban land use within an existing rural area.

"Generally speaking, people who choose to live in rural areas expect to have fresh air, wide open space, connection with nature, and peace and quiet," the submission states. "While people who choose to live in urban centres expect to have conveniences such as hospitals, secondary schools and mass transit. These expectations are justifiable because they are anchored in existing plans and bylaws."

The association also requested notice of an NEC hearing officer being assigned, and hearing dates.

Sixteen months after filing an NEP amendment application to convert the former Sisters of St. Joseph convent into a private high school, Columbia recently submitted more information.

The original application received 75 public comments, including just two in support of the proposal.

D'Silva said the new submission will go through all the same steps the original application did in the summer of 2020, including posting on the NEC website and Ontario's environmental registry, circulation to other agencies for comments, and a 60-day public comment period.