The vice chair of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has adjourned the hearing for a Rockwood quarry.
On Oct. 13 Steve Stefanko ruled the hearing would be put on hold indefinitely.
He stated in his 11-page decision that proceedings could reconvene “at a date to be determined” after the board receives “the requisite appeals” under the Planning Act from applicant James Dick Construction Limited (JDCL).
“It’s a little bit like watching an NFL football game,” said JDCL vice president of resources Greg Sweetnam on Oct. 17.
“Just when you think everything is going good, the referee throws their flag and your play gets called back …”
JDCL had appealed to the OMB its rezoning and licensing applications for a quarry at Highway 7 and 6th Line in Guelph-Eramosa.
The fate of the hearing was unclear after Concerned Residents Coalition (CRC) lawyer Chris Barnett pointed out on Sept. 27, the first day of the hearing, that the JDCL re-zoning application was actually for a bylaw that no longer exists.
Guelph-Eramosa Township concluded a two-year process this summer to repeal and replace its entire comprehensive zoning bylaw, but JDCL made its application under the old bylaw in 2012.
CRC president Doug Tripp told the Advertiser group members “were taken by surprise” by the adjournment of the OMB hearing.
“I mean it’s certainly not something that we could have anticipated,” Tripp said on Oct. 17.
“But we were pleased that the issue was raised by our lawyer and supported by the other parties and that at the end of the day our position was agreed to by the OMB member.”
Tripp explained that if JDCL decides to complete an entirely new application, the quarry site could be subject to new conditions under the Wellington County Official Plan amendment from 2014.
“There are more stringent conditions that apply which are consistent with some of the things that we’ve been raising as concerns about the potential impact of this operation,” Tripp said.
“So all in all, while we’re waiting to see what’s going to happen, we feel that our position has been strengthened as a result of this.”
JDCL lawyer David White had argued the OMB hearing should proceed because it is the township’s responsibility to inform the company and the OMB of zoning bylaw changes that could impact the application.
However, in his Oct. 13 ruling Stefanko, citing past cases, stated the municipality was within its rights to pass the new bylaw.
“Although it is arguable as to whether the passage of the new bylaw and its repeal of the former bylaw have resulted in unintended consequences, such consequences … cannot, in law, override the express language of the PA (Planning Act) and the specific powers conferred therein,” Stefanko stated.
He also ruled it was not within his power to amend JDCL’s application to address the new 2016 bylaw, as White had requested.
Sweetnam said he thinks the township is treating the CRC application “differently” than “other applications that were made under the old bylaw (and) are allowed to persist under the new bylaw … somehow the rules are different for us.
“We sort of lost the expectation of fair play, but we just have to do what we need to do and we have certain rights too and we just have to … keep moving through the process and see if we can get our day in court.”
Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White disagreed with Sweetnam’s assessment.
“We followed the absolute requirements under the Planning Act as we would any applicant,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that no appeal was placed against the bylaw.”
He added that if the act required the township to inform applicants it would have.
What’s next for JDCL is unclear, Sweetnam said.
“The Aggregate Resources Act license is still properly before [the board member] and it’s just now going through the technical exercise of getting the appropriate bylaw before this board member so that they can make a decision,” he said.
JDCL filed an additional appeal on Sept. 29 under the new bylaw.
“But our application isn’t being taken,” he said, adding the company may need to file an entirely new re-zoning application with the township.
Tripp said the CRC is in a holding pattern.
“The ball is in JDCL’s court at this point in time,” he said. “Whether they seek leave to appeal the decision that was rendered by Mr. Stefanko or whether they decide to go ahead and submit a new re-zoning application and start that process – so what we do will be predicated on what they do.”
Sweetnam said the longer the hearing is delayed, the more damage other aggregate trucks are causing to the environment.
“We’re in a new era where the old way of ‘not in my backyard, let’s push the impacts and increase the greenhouse gas footprint of the aggregate industry’ is no longer acceptable in my view,” he said
He said shipping aggregate from the Rockwood quarry would decrease fuel admissions in the delivery area because the product is closer to market.
Despite the road block, Sweetnam said JDCL isn’t planning to abandon its quarry plans.
“We’ve owned the property since 1989 and if it gets delayed a few more months then so be it, but we’re not going away,” he said.
“Let’s get the application heard.”
For a PDF of the ruling visit https://goo.gl/7S3hgY.For more details on the background of the OMB hearing visit http://bit.ly/2e9xqfj.
