Puslinch councillors had some strong words for Guelph officials in light of two city appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) that were recently denied.
“I hope this sets a precedent and sends a message to the City of Guelph,” councillor Susan Fielding said last week.
She noted a lot of time and money was spent by the city, township, and county – and all for nothing. Fielding added she hopes the city changes it attitude when confronted with similar situations in the future.
On Aug. 4, OMB member Susan Campbell denied a city appeal of the county decision to allow a group headed by Camilla Havlik-Patten to sever a vacant residential lot from a rural lot on Maltby Road.
Just five days later OMB member Harold Goldkind dismissed another city appeal and ruled in favour of the township’s zoning bylaw to allow the relocation of Milburn Auto Sales from the city to the township.
County planner Gary Cousins, who appeared as the county’s expert at the Milburn hearing, said he has not seen any of the final bills for the two hearings.
But he told the Advertiser he wouldn’t be surprised if the total cost is close to $20,000. And that is just for the county; it does not include costs to the city, the township, and the applicants in both cases.
Mayor Brad Whitcombe called the OMB?decisions “two pieces of good News that didn’t have to happen.”
In both situations, he added, the OMB members wrote thoughtful decisions that sent a clear message to all parties involved.
“You’d think they’d use a little more common sense,” councillor Dick Visser said of city officials. Speaking specifically of the Milburn application, he added, “I think it’s a good use there [at the southeast corner of Brock Road and Maltby Road].”
Councillor Matthew Bulmer said Robert Milburn and his group should be pleased, given the “long and drawn out process” they’ve had to endure as a result of the city’s appeal.
“These aren’t land sterilizations that are going to block the city,” Bulmer said of the two applications, which he said make good use of land near the city-township border.
He added city officials should think more about the “real impact” of such applications before appealing decisions to the board.
