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From The Star
Builders go to court over moraine
Dec. 13, 2006. 04:18 PM
LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN
STAFF REPORTER
Richmond Hill developers who want to build about 7,500 homes on the edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine are going to court to overturn a recent Ontario Municipal Board decision that ruled they couldn’t put neighbourhood parks on greenbelt land.
It is the first legal challenge of what uses are permitted in the provincial greenbelt, a 720,000-hectare arc of moraine, escarpment and open countryside that runs from Niagara to Peterborough.
The Greenbelt Act, brought in by the provincial Liberals to curb urban sprawl, preserve farmland and protect ecologically sensitive areas, became law in February 2005.
When the law was introduced in the fall of 2004, provincial officials said market gardens, hiking trails, cross-country skiing and other “passive uses†would be permitted in the greenbelt.
But “active parks†such as sports fields and school playgrounds would not be allowed, they said at the time.
The developers, however, say the actual legislation is not clear and needs clarification through the courts.
“The board erred in law by fundamentally misinterpreting the Greenbelt Act and the Greenbelt Plan,†said lawyer Jeff Davies who represents the East Bayview Landowners Group.
The group is one of several developers hoping to build subdivisions on about 600 hectares of rural land in Richmond Hill east of Bayview Ave. and north of Elgin Mills Rd. E.
“Neither the Greenbelt Act, nor the Greenbelt Plan, either explicitly or implicitly prohibit parkland or private amenity space within the protected countryside in the greenbelt,†he wrote in court documents filed with the Ontario Divisional Court last Friday.
Provincial officials say they are aware of the appeal, but weren’t a party to the OMB hearing and have not yet sought standing in the case.
The OMB approved Richmond Hill’s plan to urbanize the area just south of the moraine on the headwaters of the Rouge River late last month after a six-month hearing earlier this year.
However, the board ruled against the developers’ proposal to meet its responsibility to provide neighbourhood parks by putting them on greenbelt land in the area.
The board also ruled the developers’ proposal to build 7,500 homes should be scaled back to 5,000 to make way for employment sites as requested by the town
Environmentalists are also unhappy with the OMB ruling, but instead of going to the courts, they plan to appeal to the chair of the board, said lawyer David Donnelly, who represents Environmental Defence and Save the Rouge Valley System.
They don’t believe the OMB had enough information about the impact of the development on the headwaters of the Rouge River to make a proper decision.
As a result, the board should have dismissed plans for new subdivisions in the area as premature, Donnelly said.
Builders go to court over moraine
Dec. 13, 2006. 04:18 PM
LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN
STAFF REPORTER
Richmond Hill developers who want to build about 7,500 homes on the edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine are going to court to overturn a recent Ontario Municipal Board decision that ruled they couldn’t put neighbourhood parks on greenbelt land.
It is the first legal challenge of what uses are permitted in the provincial greenbelt, a 720,000-hectare arc of moraine, escarpment and open countryside that runs from Niagara to Peterborough.
The Greenbelt Act, brought in by the provincial Liberals to curb urban sprawl, preserve farmland and protect ecologically sensitive areas, became law in February 2005.
When the law was introduced in the fall of 2004, provincial officials said market gardens, hiking trails, cross-country skiing and other “passive uses†would be permitted in the greenbelt.
But “active parks†such as sports fields and school playgrounds would not be allowed, they said at the time.
The developers, however, say the actual legislation is not clear and needs clarification through the courts.
“The board erred in law by fundamentally misinterpreting the Greenbelt Act and the Greenbelt Plan,†said lawyer Jeff Davies who represents the East Bayview Landowners Group.
The group is one of several developers hoping to build subdivisions on about 600 hectares of rural land in Richmond Hill east of Bayview Ave. and north of Elgin Mills Rd. E.
“Neither the Greenbelt Act, nor the Greenbelt Plan, either explicitly or implicitly prohibit parkland or private amenity space within the protected countryside in the greenbelt,†he wrote in court documents filed with the Ontario Divisional Court last Friday.
Provincial officials say they are aware of the appeal, but weren’t a party to the OMB hearing and have not yet sought standing in the case.
The OMB approved Richmond Hill’s plan to urbanize the area just south of the moraine on the headwaters of the Rouge River late last month after a six-month hearing earlier this year.
However, the board ruled against the developers’ proposal to meet its responsibility to provide neighbourhood parks by putting them on greenbelt land in the area.
The board also ruled the developers’ proposal to build 7,500 homes should be scaled back to 5,000 to make way for employment sites as requested by the town
Environmentalists are also unhappy with the OMB ruling, but instead of going to the courts, they plan to appeal to the chair of the board, said lawyer David Donnelly, who represents Environmental Defence and Save the Rouge Valley System.
They don’t believe the OMB had enough information about the impact of the development on the headwaters of the Rouge River to make a proper decision.
As a result, the board should have dismissed plans for new subdivisions in the area as premature, Donnelly said.