LAWYER ASKS FOR CLEARVIEW TO WITHDRAW PLANS FOR 26/27

ONTARIO LAND TRIBUNAL EXPECTING UPDATE ON SIDEROAD PROJECT FROM TOWNSHIP BY MARCH 31

One of the parties to an Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearing on Clearview Township's application to upgrade Sideroad 26/27 says the township needs to withdraw its case.

On March 13, David Donnelly issued a letter to the OLT, asking that a March 31 deadline for the township to update the tribunal on the status of the project be converted to a case management conference.

The tribunal is to hear the township's appeal of the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC)'s decision to deny the municipality's 2015 development application to upgrade Sideroad 26/27 to year-round use.

The hearing was to begin in November 2021, but was adjourned after the

Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks told the township it was reviewing the environmental assessment process the municipality used to justify the project as part of its permit application to the NEC.

The township had undertaken a Schedule Aplus environmental assessment (EA) to justify the project. After several years of backing the township's position to conduct that level of EA, the ministry reversed course in December and advised the township it needed to undertake a more stringent process and conduct a Schedule C assessment.

The township was to report back to the OLT on March 31 on the implications of the ministry decision. Donnelly, who is representing Wendy Franks, a party to the appeal in support of the NEC's position, said the township has already made five requests for additional time to provide an update.

"Clearview can't keep dragging this appeal on, especially after such a fundamental change in the assessment," Donnelly stated in a news release. "Residents, community groups, and neighbouring municipalities have all raised significant and unresolved issues with the project — and now the Ontario government has, too.

"It's time for Clearview to withdraw their appeal at the tribunal and work with stakeholders to find the best alternate solution for everyone."

Clearview Township chief administrative officer John Ferguson said he was unable to comment, other than to say the matter is currently under discussion.

Donnelly's letter to the OLT stated that his client questioned how the bumpup request from the ministry could "possibly result in maintaining the status quo for the hearing. A hearing concerning the same development permit application seems highly implausible to our client."

"This change is significant — it adds years and hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to the proposed project," Franks stated in a release. "Clearview taxpayers have objected to the environmental impact and financial cost of this project for over a decade, and the province clearly shares at least some of these concerns. What is it going to take for our mayor and council to listen to reason and stop this project?"

The redevelopment of the sideroad is tied to a settlement agreement between the County of Simcoe, Clearview Township and Walker Aggregates that would see a portion of County Road 91 west of Duntroon closed and transferred to the aggregate company, and 26/27 upgraded to a road for yearround use.

Another party to the appeal, the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust, has previously stated that its environmental experts have determined there are more diverse wetlands than had been previously identified by the township along the road's right-of-way, as well as the presence of little brown myotis (also known as little brown bat), a species considered to be at risk.