“New application. Here we go.”
That was how Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White responded to James Dick Construction Ltd.’s (JDCL) new quarry application.
At the Dec. 19 meeting council was faced with the newest iteration of James Dick’s application for a quarry operation just south of Rockwood on Highway 7 at the 6th Line.
Elizabeth Howson from Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd. submitted a report recommending that the application for a 24.8-hectare (61.3 acre) quarry be deemed complete.
Council accepted the recommendation, starting the 120-day clock to make a decision.
A quarry application first came to council in December 2012 and was sent to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) by James Dick officials in the summer of 2015 when the township did not make a decision on the application in the required timeframe.
However, JDCL is re-applying after OMB vice-chair Steve Stefanko adjourned a hearing to decide the quarry’s fate on Oct. 13.
Stefanko’s reasoning was that the original JDCL application for a quarry was made under a bylaw that was repealed and replaced in August.
Stefanko said that means the OMB no longer had jurisdiction over the matter.
The company’s application for a licence under the Aggregate Resources Act is still valid and awaiting OMB assessment. It will be considered along with the new zoning application, if appealed to the OMB.
Under the new guidelines James Dick Construction was required to apply to Guelph-Eramosa Township to rezone the site as well as to Wellington County for an Official Plan amendment permitting aggregate mining at the proposed quarry site.
The county deemed the application complete Dec. 9.
“The county has already advised James Dick of what they require; there’s some additional information above and beyond what was submitted in the previous application,” Guelph-Eramosa CAO Ian Roger told council.
“They’ve submitted that and now the county will review the information and see if they need any additional information after the peer review’s complete.”
The county has 180 days from Dec. 9 to make a decision.
“As long as this is at the staff level, they’re going to take it, they’re going to compare it to the legislation, they’ve got to do all that,” White said.
The county and Guelph-Eramosa will be announcing in the new year if they will be working together in a coordinated public consultation process, Roger said.
