Wellington North council has supported an Official Plan amendment for the Ghent gravel pit.
Tasked with the responsibility of recommending the county approve, modify, or deny the amendment, council decided on June 22 to support the recommendations of senior county planner Linda Redmond.
But the county is ultimately responsible for making the final decision on the official plan amendment.
Redmond’s recommendation was to enter into an agreement with the pit operator to establish a requirement for annual inspections of Concession 4 North.
She also recommended the agreement include the operator’s obligations regarding road repairs during the life of the pit, dust mitigation on the haul route, signage and that the traffic study provided to council as part of the application is peer-reviewed.
Council decided to expand the scope of the peer-reviewed traffic study to include information regarding the surface, profile and ditches along Concession 4 North.
The decision came after a lengthy discussion between council and members of the public.
Cliff Booi, a resident of Concession 4 North, where the proposed pit would be located, asked council to defer the decision.
“Ultimately this is a planning decision not a licensing decision and we ask that council approach it as such when considering the social impacts and the land use compatibility under the provincial policy statement. We ask that you consider the cumulative impact of this being four license operations within a mile of Sideroad 3,” said Booi.
He raised issues with the traffic study provided, saying it has some major “foundational flaws” and therefore “even the conclusions drawn by it are in question.”
Booi noticed the traffic assessment was completed on April 29 during the road load restriction and thus “did not address seasonal traffic that would exist outside the load restriction period.”
Councillor Mark Goetz asked concerned residents at the meeting if it was their intention to never allow the pit or would they be content with a modified plan.
Most of the residents spoke up against the pit, including Brett and Victoria McHugh.
“No, we don’t want it. We haven’t wanted it for two years,” said Victoria.
Randy Bye, owner of pit applicant H. Bye Construction, said his intent is to make the road safer.
“I’m all on for road safety … I will do whatever I have to do to make the 4th Concession a better road,” said Bye.
He offered in a letter to the township a monetary contribution of $25,000 to implement safety measures on Concession 4 North.
When many of the opponents tried to rebut Bye, Mayor Andy Lennox stepped in.
“I’ve allowed some latitude here, but this is really a council meeting and I’m going to ask council to participate in the discussion from this point on,” said Lennox.
Lennox read the first motion to defer the process until a peer-reviewed study could be completed.
Sherry Burke and Steve McCabe agreed council should defer.
“I believe that it’s unreasonable and irresponsible to approve an official plan amendment with all of the concerns being addressed,” said Burke.
Councillor Dan Yake, however, said the township need to go ahead with the process.
“Having known the Bye family and H. Bye construction for a number of years, I believe they will do whatever they are asked to do by the community, the residents and this council to make that road and intersection and everything else that’s out there as safe as possible,” said Yake.
Burke said she would like to see a detailed rehabilitation plan.
“I have grave concerns about prime agricultural land being temporarily used for a resource that seems plentiful within our municipality,” she said.
During his delegation, Booi mentioned his concerns with H. Bye’s record for rehabilitating old gravel pits.
“I have serious concerns surrounding the applicant’s record of rehabilitation. In over 60 years in the aggregate industry, they have never removed the license from an aggregate operation and rehabilitated it back to agriculture,” said Booi.
However, the mayor said that is out of council’s scope.
“My livelihood depends on farmland, so farmland preservation is extremely important to me, but I think that is beyond the scope of the decision making before us tonight,” said Lennox.
“That is a matter of provincial policy, not something we can change by our decisions.”
The motion to defer the process was defeated in a 3-2 vote, with Burke and McCabe in favour and Goetz, Lennox and Yake opposed.
The second motion to support the official plan application with the recommendations set out by the county planner and that the peer-review study be expanded, was passed 3-2, with Burke and McCabe opposed.
Lennox reminded residents in attendance council was not making a decision to proceed with the pit or not, but to keep the process moving forward.
The application will be discussed at the county in September at the earliest. If approved, it will then return to township council for the rezoning application.
