Brock appeals for support in boundary dispute
Brock University is asking the province to intervene in a boundary dispute with Niagara Escarpment Commission the school says is affecting its long-term plans to develop a research park.
At issue is a mostly undeveloped property the university owns at 130 Lockhart Dr. that’s home to the Brock Research and Innovation Centre.
In a letter to the minister of natural resources and forestry, Brock interim president Tom Traves said the escarpment commission is proposing to essentially remove 90 per cent of the property’s Urban Area — land that could be developed — by re-designating it Escarpment Natural Area.
That would leave Brock with only 1.1 hectares of land for development, compared to 7.2 hectares in 1985.
The dispute has been ongoing for more than 30 years, with the Urban Area reduced by the commission to 3.3 hectares in 2005.
“How is it justified or reasonable that this designation can be periodically chipped away until about 10 per cent of the Urban Area designation remains as proposed by NEC?” wrote Traves in the March 17 letter to Minister Kathryn McGarry.
“Where is the evidence of a formal amendment process being undertaken to achieve this?”
The university is requesting the ministry, through its current Niagara Escarpment Plan review, uphold the Urban Area designation from the 1985 Niagara Escarpment Plan.
It has also asked its lawyer to apply for a judicial review.
The escarpment commission’s spokesperson, Danielle D’Silva, said she couldn’t comment on why the property’s Urban Area was reduced or on Brock’s claims there was no formal amendment process because the matter is before the courts.
But Niagara Escarpment Commission chair Don Scott, in a Feb. 23 letter to McGarry, said the commission should be able to provide its opinion about the boundary if the issue is resolved through a review.
Scott wrote the interpretation of where the boundary should lie is based on Niagara Escarpment Plan land use designation criteria and objectives, along with the provincial policy statement.
The lands in question are designated as significant woodland and provide specialized habitat for several species, including two of special concern, he wrote.
“These lands are also part of the last remaining tract of natural escarpment woodland in the city of St. Catharines,” Scott wrote. “The commission is therefore recommending that the majority of the lands receive the highest level of protection under the NEP, and should not, as Brock asserts, be designated for urban development.”
But Brock’s Traves wrote the commission’s actions are based on incorrect information and a misunderstanding of the criteria for Escarpment Natural Area designations.
Traves also said commission staff have wanted to achieve this designation result since 1983 and have “relentlessly” adopted designation creep.
“To be frank, we are disappointed and frustrated with the NEC’s position and approach to this matter,” Traves wrote.
No one from Brock University was available to comment Wednesday.
The impact on the university of reducing the Urban Area designation is estimated at more than $12 million in lost equity.
“This is not only the loss in value to the patrimony of the university,” Traves wrote. “More serious is the loss to the Niagara community. These are the lands that the university was planning to use for its incubator research development.”
Traves wrote the province has urged universities to expand their research activities and Brock’s efforts are underway. But the 50-year-old former elementary school on Lockhart Drive housing the Brock Research and Innovation Centre and the property’s Urban Area are “totally inadequate” for any long-term plans.
Brock is requesting the support of St. Catharines and Niagara Region, asking the governments to send letters to the Minister expressing concerns with the process to date.
The issue is coming to city council on Monday.
Lawyer Tom Richardson, representing Brock, wrote in a letter to city and regional planners that the commission endorsed a Feb. 16 recommendation that would make the only Urban Area on Brock’s Lockhart Drive property the school building.
It would also create an Escarpment Protection Area on the former school yard.
Richardson wrote in the March 24 letter that when the university became aware of the recommendation, it asked the commission to defer a decision to allow consultation with Niagara Region, the city and university but was denied.
“As the cities of St. Catharines and Thorold expand to their established urban area boundaries, the preservation of university-owned lands for future university purposes becomes ever more critical,” Richardson wrote.
“With indications by both the federal and provincial governments that universities are expected to become further engaged in research and innovation, the need to preserve the lands on Lockhart Drive for such uses becomes ever more important.”