Wellington County planner Mark Van Patter gave an update on the CBM gravel pit application to Erin council on Nov. 17.
St. Marys Cement Group – Canada Building Materials (CBM) is currently applying for official plan amendments (for the town and county) and a zoning bylaw amendment to extend its property northwest of Hillsburgh in four phases.
Van Patter’s report comes after the town received comments from CBM as an item at the Nov. 3 council meeting.
Van Patter explained CBM’s licence application with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) has gone to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) and it “will hold that in abeyance until planning catches up with it.”
He added CBM has proposed two major changes to its application based on feedback received at the Sept. 8 public meeting. CBM withdrew the woodland area in Phase 2 of the application and will maintain an annual tonnage rate of 750,000 tonnes rather than increase to one million tonnes.
“In my mind, those are fairly major concessions trying to reach some consensus on this application,” said Van Patter.
He added there are three categories of remaining concerns from residents: those consistent with provincial policy, those somewhat resolved and others needing more work.
The concerns consistent with provincial policy include demonstration of aggregate need, loss of prime agricultural land, tonnage fees to the municipality and archeological assessment.
Van Patter said gravel companies do not need to demonstrate need for aggregate so it is not worthwhile to discuss it.
“That’s just the way it is in the province,” he said.
As for loss of prime agricultural land, Van Patter explained provincial “policies do have an allowance for the extraction of aggregate on class one to three farmland. The requirement is that land be brought back and gets rehabilitated to largely the same area and largely the same soil capability class.”
He added, “Similarly, there are policies that deal with mining below the water table and it’s up to (MNRF) to enforce that requirement.”
He added the municipality could not argue with the tonnage fees because it was what the province set and the archeological assessment found no archeological material.
“Those issues in my mind can be set aside from a planning point of view,” said Van Patter.
Other issues were largely resolved, but still needed some work, he said.
The hydrogeological impact report from CBM was peer reviewed by Blackport Hydrogeology on behalf of the town and no major concerns were found, explained Van Patter.
He added other than the removal of the woodland plot, peer reviewer GWS Ecological and Forestry Services found the rehabilitation plan acceptable with some minor recommendations.
Van Patter explained CBM and the county will be entering into an agreement about road improvements for the Trafalgar Road entrance and concern of dust mitigation is an MNRF-enforceable issue.
Councillor Matt Sammut asked if there was another haul route aside from Trafalgar because, “it still doesn’t help us and our ultimate goal of trying to turn Erin and Hillsburgh … into the quaint tourist communities we’d like to see them, having fill trucks whipping down the road is not conducive with that.”
Van Patter said, “I’m not sure we can do much about that. I think that’s just a fact of life. The rural countryside has resources and they have to be extracted.”
He added, “that’s what county roads are for.”
Van Patter explained there are still concerns about the noise study, the traffic impact and species at risk.
He said the noise study will have to be peer reviewed, and “because the gravel pit is expanding, it is my opinion that we do a peer review of the noise study.”
He also said the traffic study should be updated to 2015 information as it is currently based on 2006 information with a 2011 update. Van Patter said CBM is in the process of doing this. He added CBM is dealing independently with the MNRF on the issue of species at risk on the site.
Van Patter said the timeline for these changes to occur would take the town into the spring, when it will need to make a decision on the official plan amendment. If Erin approves, it would be forwarded to the county and returned back for a zoning decision.
