ABERFOYLE – If Wellington Motor Freight officials had hoped for a change of heart from residents opposed to its proposal to relocate to the corner of Brock Road South and Gilmour Road, their hopes were dashed at an April 18 public meeting.
About 70 people crammed the Puslinch Community Centre to hear about the proposal and voice their concerns. Noise, traffic, and the safety of water and wastewater were chief among them.
But most concerning, residents say, would be losing the buffer between residential and industrial zones that this property, currently zoned highway/commercial, provides.
This was the second public meeting on the proposal, and while the company has done numerous studies – noise, traffic, environmental, water – and most commenting agencies have signed off on the company’s studies, residents remain skeptical.
Pierre Chauvin of MHBC Planning spoke on behalf of the company, and with him was the team of specialists who conducted the studies.
The proposed site is at 128 Brock Rd. S., which is currently vacant with two dwellings.
Wellington Motor Freight is seeking to change the property’s zoning to industrial to permit a 20,000-square-metre warehouse with an office area mezzanine and an additional 2,700-square-metre, three-storey office building.
The proposal would have trucks entering and exiting from Brock Road and a separate employee entrance off Gilmour Road.
There would be parking for 170 employees and 123 tractors and trailers.
A noise barrier wall is recommended to contain noise, and a right-turn lane on northbound Brock Road (Highway 6) to ease congestion.
Alastair McCluskey, a resident of the nearby Meadows of Aberfoyle community, said the proposal is in direct opposition of the Provincial Policy Statement.
“It isn’t talking to the safety of people,” he said. “The traffic study doesn’t speak about safety.”
McClusky added he is worried about the operation leaching contaminants into the soil and the aquifer beneath it.
The site is directly across Gilmour Road from the residential community, which has its own water and wastewater system.
He said water will flow to the lowest point on the site, which is in the vicinity of the septic system.
“If all this water flows to one place, how is it possible the recharge is sufficient? What of a major storm event?” McClusky asked.
“You’ll be tapping into the main aquifer. You should need a permit to take water. And it seems there is little or no filtering of runoff.”
Lisa Ross also lives in the subdivision, and she questioned the traffic expert to understand the scope of the traffic study.
Although the company said it will compel its staff to turn left onto Gilmour Road when exiting the employee parking lot, Ross said she believes employees won’t wait in a long line of cars to get into the roundabout at Gilmour and Brock Road and will turn right onto Gilmour Road instead.
She noted the traffic impact study did not include Gilmour Road, which is a dirt road with no shoulders and no sidewalks and is often frequented by runners, walkers and children boarding and departing school buses.
Wellington Motor Freight wants to locate a transport hub on property at the corner of Gilmour and Brock roads in Puslinch. The proposed site is outlined in red. Nearby residents and Blue Triton Brands, on the west side of Brock Road, are opposed to the proposal. Image from March 22 public meeting agenda
Cam McConnell, who also lives in the Meadows of Aberfoyle, said the plan should be reconfigured so noise from the truck bays would be blocked by the office building and warehouse.
“The way to mitigate this is to have a big buffer,” McConnell said. “This doesn’t stand up to the sniff test.”
During the first public meeting on March 22, Wellington Motor Freight president Mark Lunshof said the company wants to be a good neighbour and “if it turns out this is not the right facility, we don’t want to ram it down your throats.”
At this meeting, McConnell brought that up again.
“You’ve met almost universal opposition,” McConnell said.
“I can tell you, you’re not wanted here … There’s too much opposition for you to ignore.”
Blue Triton Canada, which is located across Brock Road from the proposed site, has written a letter expressing its concern about groundwater safety being impacted by the proposed operation.
Natural resources manager Andreanne Simard attended the public meeting and said that despite the reports stating Blue Triton and Wellington Motor Freight have been in communication, “we haven’t had communication yet,” she said.
One man suggested the employee entrance be moved from Gilmour Road to Brock Road.
Then a berm and trees could be planted at that location, which would do a lot to for noise and traffic mitigation.
Zach Prince, a Wellington County planner, said it is the county’s preference not to have employees access the site from Brock Road, but he would take that back to the county’s roads department.
Councillors asked for more information: how fire sprinklers factor into the water management plan, whether the company could use broadband backup beepers (they are quieter than normal backup beepers), and a noise study that includes backup beepers.
Chauvin said the company will meet with Blue Triton and will summarize the comments and the company’s response.
The matter will return to council on May 3.
This is the first proposal in Puslinch to fall under the new accelerated timelines set out in Bill 23.
The township must reach a decision in May or risk having to refund development fees.
