waterloowarrior
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Bradford Bond Head Development
- Thread starter unimaginative2
- Start date
not sure if there is more recent news
unimaginative2
Senior Member
Vaughan firm threatens to move 2,500 jobs
Company says it's moving to Manitoba if it can't 'leapfrog' protected Greenbelt to build new plant
Mar 14, 2009 04:30 AM
Phinjo Gombu
URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER
The Toronto Star
A Vaughan equipment distributor, being forced to relocate as Toronto's subway creeps north, is threatening to leave the province – and take 2,500 jobs with it – if it's not allowed to build a replacement facility on fertile farmland north of the provincial Greenbelt.
Toromont Industries, which assembles and distributes heavy tractors as well as grading and mining equipment, has set conditions that may force the province to choose between losing those jobs or rejecting anti-sprawl principles enshrined in its legislation.
Negotiations are quietly proceeding between the province and two major developers over a proposed 700-hectare industrial-commercial zone off Highway 400, where Toromont would be an anchor resident.
Provincial planners have questioned whether development in the area, linked to housing, could be justified under the internationally praised Places to Grow plan. There are concerns about what will follow if this first major challenge to the plan succeeds, allowing development to "leapfrog" north over the newly protected Greenbelt.
Provincial planners were set to challenge the proposal at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing. But the hearing was abruptly adjourned last year.
The Star has learned the key reason the province agreed to "settlement" discussions with the developers and their municipal supporters was Toromont's threat to move to Manitoba if it was not allowed to consolidate its operations on the Highway 400 corridor.
Ironically it's mass transit, touted as a sprawl-fighter, that has created the dilemma. Toromont's Vaughan facility will be displaced within a few years from the Highway 7 and Jane St. area, which has been earmarked for the future city centre and new terminus of the University-Spadina subway line.
The proposed new home for the company is about 40 hectares on the east side of the 400. But servicing that small property with sewer and water would be too expensive without bringing into play about 688 hectares of farmland around it as well as residential development to the west in Bond Head. There is also pressure for more development to the north.
The province is struggling to curtail sprawl, in part by capping the number of homes allowed to be built in the next 25 years. That limit is almost half of what the developers who have speculated on vast swaths of Simcoe County want.
Shoring up the jobs-creation argument has been one counter-strategy for developers, particularly those involved in the Highway 400 site, such as Metrus Developments, owned by Fred DeGasperis, and Geranium Corp., run by Earl Rumm, who made headlines recently with his controversial resort development on nearby Big Bay Point.
Doug White, mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury and a strong supporter of the highway industrial node, wouldn't comment on Toromont's threat but acknowledged urging the province to come down on the side of jobs.
"The situation is what it is," White said. "That's who we are hoping to attract to our town, because they are the ones who want to come here. They've made it clear what their times are."
In October 2007, a representative for DeGasperis said the company was working on a deal with a major employer as an incentive for the province to allow building there. Pressure on the province, with Toromont as a lever, continued last year.
But it was the autumn downturn in the economy that emboldened local politicians like White to push the province to abandon the board hearing.
In a letter to Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson and deputy premier George Smitherman, White and Simcoe County warden Tony Guergis didn't mince words.
"It is critical to recognize, as you know, that a major GTA employer needs to relocate its existing industrial operations and has identified lands within the OPA 15 area ... as ideal for its head office, training, manufacturing and distribution operations," they wrote.
"This company has made it known that if it cannot relocate to this area, its next preferred operation is out of Ontario. In these times of economic uncertainty, Ontario cannot afford to lose these jobs."
Shortly after, the province announced it had appointed provincial development facilitator Paula Dill to mediate a settlement between the province, developers and municipalities. Amy Tang, a spokesperson for Smitherman, who handles the Places to Grow file, would not comment on why, pointing out that negotiations are sensitive and putting them into the public realm could affect the outcome.
"The decision to call in the provincial development facilitator was motivated by the confidence the parties could avoid a costly hearing and reach a resolution that preserves jobs while fulfilling growth plan principles," Tang said in an email. Toromont vice-president David Wetherald responded: "If we are unable to move operations to Bradford we would reconsider all our options, including moving part of our operations (including training and northern mine support) to Manitoba."
A political source familiar with the negotiations told the Star Toromont officials are serious. Toromont serves markets stretching from Alberta's oil sands to Nunavut and Newfoundland, and the site near a major highway is suited to distribution operations.
"They absolutely mean it. And they need the province to okay this by June or they are gone," the source said. "Period."
The company is said to have been hunting for a new site for several years as it became apparent the subway would arrive by 2015.
The conflict arises as many developers and speculators are finding themselves seriously limited by provincial smart-growth plans.
Under Places to Grow, the population of Simcoe County, including Orillia and Barrie, will be allowed to grow by only 247,000 (above today's 420,000) in the next 25 years. Residential building applications in the pipeline would have brought in 1.2 million people in the same period.
The provincial cap all but vaporized the most ambitious plans by developers.
That has brought proposals for industrial-commercial zones between the Greenbelt's northern edge and Barrie into focus – even though planners in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing contended last year there was an "oversupply" of designated employment lands in south Simcoe.
Deputy ministers in municipal affairs and infrastructure in the past have challenged the county to justify its enthusiasm for the Highway 400 employment nodes.
White acknowledges that plans to build tens of thousands of homes in his municipality won't see the light of day. But the focus now is on jobs, he said.
"You would think the province would do everything they possibly to keep 2,500 jobs in this province in this economic climate."
Company says it's moving to Manitoba if it can't 'leapfrog' protected Greenbelt to build new plant
Mar 14, 2009 04:30 AM
Phinjo Gombu
URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER
The Toronto Star
A Vaughan equipment distributor, being forced to relocate as Toronto's subway creeps north, is threatening to leave the province – and take 2,500 jobs with it – if it's not allowed to build a replacement facility on fertile farmland north of the provincial Greenbelt.
Toromont Industries, which assembles and distributes heavy tractors as well as grading and mining equipment, has set conditions that may force the province to choose between losing those jobs or rejecting anti-sprawl principles enshrined in its legislation.
Negotiations are quietly proceeding between the province and two major developers over a proposed 700-hectare industrial-commercial zone off Highway 400, where Toromont would be an anchor resident.
Provincial planners have questioned whether development in the area, linked to housing, could be justified under the internationally praised Places to Grow plan. There are concerns about what will follow if this first major challenge to the plan succeeds, allowing development to "leapfrog" north over the newly protected Greenbelt.
Provincial planners were set to challenge the proposal at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing. But the hearing was abruptly adjourned last year.
The Star has learned the key reason the province agreed to "settlement" discussions with the developers and their municipal supporters was Toromont's threat to move to Manitoba if it was not allowed to consolidate its operations on the Highway 400 corridor.
Ironically it's mass transit, touted as a sprawl-fighter, that has created the dilemma. Toromont's Vaughan facility will be displaced within a few years from the Highway 7 and Jane St. area, which has been earmarked for the future city centre and new terminus of the University-Spadina subway line.
The proposed new home for the company is about 40 hectares on the east side of the 400. But servicing that small property with sewer and water would be too expensive without bringing into play about 688 hectares of farmland around it as well as residential development to the west in Bond Head. There is also pressure for more development to the north.
The province is struggling to curtail sprawl, in part by capping the number of homes allowed to be built in the next 25 years. That limit is almost half of what the developers who have speculated on vast swaths of Simcoe County want.
Shoring up the jobs-creation argument has been one counter-strategy for developers, particularly those involved in the Highway 400 site, such as Metrus Developments, owned by Fred DeGasperis, and Geranium Corp., run by Earl Rumm, who made headlines recently with his controversial resort development on nearby Big Bay Point.
Doug White, mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury and a strong supporter of the highway industrial node, wouldn't comment on Toromont's threat but acknowledged urging the province to come down on the side of jobs.
"The situation is what it is," White said. "That's who we are hoping to attract to our town, because they are the ones who want to come here. They've made it clear what their times are."
In October 2007, a representative for DeGasperis said the company was working on a deal with a major employer as an incentive for the province to allow building there. Pressure on the province, with Toromont as a lever, continued last year.
But it was the autumn downturn in the economy that emboldened local politicians like White to push the province to abandon the board hearing.
In a letter to Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson and deputy premier George Smitherman, White and Simcoe County warden Tony Guergis didn't mince words.
"It is critical to recognize, as you know, that a major GTA employer needs to relocate its existing industrial operations and has identified lands within the OPA 15 area ... as ideal for its head office, training, manufacturing and distribution operations," they wrote.
"This company has made it known that if it cannot relocate to this area, its next preferred operation is out of Ontario. In these times of economic uncertainty, Ontario cannot afford to lose these jobs."
Shortly after, the province announced it had appointed provincial development facilitator Paula Dill to mediate a settlement between the province, developers and municipalities. Amy Tang, a spokesperson for Smitherman, who handles the Places to Grow file, would not comment on why, pointing out that negotiations are sensitive and putting them into the public realm could affect the outcome.
"The decision to call in the provincial development facilitator was motivated by the confidence the parties could avoid a costly hearing and reach a resolution that preserves jobs while fulfilling growth plan principles," Tang said in an email. Toromont vice-president David Wetherald responded: "If we are unable to move operations to Bradford we would reconsider all our options, including moving part of our operations (including training and northern mine support) to Manitoba."
A political source familiar with the negotiations told the Star Toromont officials are serious. Toromont serves markets stretching from Alberta's oil sands to Nunavut and Newfoundland, and the site near a major highway is suited to distribution operations.
"They absolutely mean it. And they need the province to okay this by June or they are gone," the source said. "Period."
The company is said to have been hunting for a new site for several years as it became apparent the subway would arrive by 2015.
The conflict arises as many developers and speculators are finding themselves seriously limited by provincial smart-growth plans.
Under Places to Grow, the population of Simcoe County, including Orillia and Barrie, will be allowed to grow by only 247,000 (above today's 420,000) in the next 25 years. Residential building applications in the pipeline would have brought in 1.2 million people in the same period.
The provincial cap all but vaporized the most ambitious plans by developers.
That has brought proposals for industrial-commercial zones between the Greenbelt's northern edge and Barrie into focus – even though planners in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing contended last year there was an "oversupply" of designated employment lands in south Simcoe.
Deputy ministers in municipal affairs and infrastructure in the past have challenged the county to justify its enthusiasm for the Highway 400 employment nodes.
White acknowledges that plans to build tens of thousands of homes in his municipality won't see the light of day. But the focus now is on jobs, he said.
"You would think the province would do everything they possibly to keep 2,500 jobs in this province in this economic climate."