Cheers and applause rang out at Rockmosa Community Centre on Oct. 7 as the audience gave a standing ovation to Guelph-Eramosa council’s unanimous vote to advise the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) that it opposes the “Hidden Quarry” application, as it stands now.
“From my perspective there really is no local community benefit here,” Mayor Chris White said of the quarry. “We’re dealing with a local benefit and we’re dealing with a provincial benefit, so looking at it from a community perspective I don’t see it.”
He added, “Now I know we all indicate that we all need gravel … and at the end of the day it has to come from somewhere but frankly this is just too close to Rockwood … I honestly think if you look at the tiny amount of gravel they’re getting out in terms of the provincial need versus the disruption to our community, there’s no proper ratio there.”
The resolution cited significant concerns the township has regarding the application as well as a number of outstanding and unresolved issues that must be addressed to “the satisfaction of the township” before approval should be considered.
“I would like to point out at the outset that this resolution is not at all about being anti-aggregate or anti-quarry,” said councillor Mark Bouwmeester said. “In fact, I was optimistic at the beginning of this whole process that concerns would be fully addressed and to the applicant’s credit there has been progress on addressing certain issues and positive changes have been made to the application, but in reality serious impacts (and) concerns do still remain.”
Councillor Louise Marshall talked about how the quarry could impact the desirability of Rockwood as a place to live.
“No one gives proximity to a quarry as one of their top five amenities to their real estate agent,” she said. “A quarry operating at 12 hours a day will break the peace and quiet that people come to cherish in Rockwood and can contribute to the loss of concentration of the students of the nearby Harris Mill school.”
Neither councillor David Wolk nor Corey Woods made specific comments saying that enough has been said and it’s time to move on.
The decision to oppose the application means that’s the position council will take during the OMB hearings. The ability to make the zoning bylaw decision was taken out of the municipality’s hands when James Dick Construction Ltd. (JDCL), the proposed quarry operator, filed an appeal to the OMB in June.
The quarry process began in December of 2012 when JDCL applied to Guelph-Eramosa Township for a rezoning amendment for lands southeast of Rockwood – from agriculture and hazard land to extractive industrial – to make way for a quarry.
Over the last two and a half years the township, JDCL, other community stakeholder groups and the Concerned Residents Coalition (CRC) commissioned numerous reports to be considered when making a decision.
All reports and feedback were taken into consideration when the final planning report by township planning consultant Elizabeth Howson of Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd was presented to council on Sept. 10.
The report’s recommendation was for council to advise the OMB to approve the quarry application in-principle, subject to specific conditions being met to the satisfaction of the township, neighboring municipalities and other appropriate agencies.
Guelph-Eramosa council went against the planner’s recommendation and is requesting the OMB not approve the application unless specific conditions are met regarding all of the township’s concerns.
The OMB prehearing conference is set for Nov. 9.
See the full council resolution at http://goo.gl/jEprIL.
