ISLAND CONSTRUCTION
Boblo housing plan going to OMB
AMHERSTBURG Dreams of transforming Boblo Island, once the site of an amusement park, into a growing residential enclave in the middle of the Detroit River have been stymied for five years while the province studies the impact of building 209 new homes on the island’s natural habitat.
Both the developer of the proposed new subdivision and Town of Amherstburg officials say they’re frustrated with delays in getting the approvals needed.
Boblo Development Inc., a division of Amico, which was founded by president Dominic Amicone, filed an appeal last year with the Ontario Municipal Board, citing a failure by the County of Essex to approve an application for a draft plan of subdivision made more than five years ago.
Amico filed the subdivision proposal, which calls for 209 detached and semi-detached residential units on six blocks on the south end of the island, in December 2012. The county has the authority to approve subdivisions, but Cindy Prince, vice-president of Amico’s properties division, blamed the five-year delay on provincial inaction.
“We’ve been having difficulty getting the attention of the various provincial ministries to provide comment on the application,” Prince said. “We thought maybe the best way to make it a priority was to get the matter in front of the Ontario Municipal Board.”
An OMB hearing is scheduled for Aug. 20 at the Amherstburg municipal building.
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry spokeswoman Jolanta Kowalski said the ministry has been in consultation with Amico and their consultants on and off since 2014 in an attempt to address impacts to species at risk on the island. “MNRF has requested clarification from (Amico) on project impacts, avoidance measures and amount of habitat to be impacted,” Kowalski said.
Island resident Michael Prue, who requested to speak at the OMB hearing, said he’s primarily concerned with potential destruction of the natural environment on the island and the ensuing threat to three endangered species, the eastern fox snake, Butler’s garter snake and queen snake, “whose habitat will be destroyed.”
Prue said there are five other threatened species whose habitat will also be destroyed by the construction.
As well, he said there is a possibility that a rumoured centuriesold native burial ground may be discovered and disturbed.
He added that First Nations at Walpole Island have not ceded their land claim on the island.
“That’s a very important thing that has to be resolved because if it isn’t then this could be a messy situation,” he said.
The Can-Am Indian Friendship Centre of Windsor will represent the local Aboriginal community’s interests at the hearing.
Waiting for MNR officials to decide what information they need to make a decision on the development has been “really frustrating for the developer and really frustrating for us,” said Amherstburg CAO John Miceli.
“We’re missing out on significant revenues from development charges, from residential taxes — the list goes on and on,” Miceli said, adding the island property is designated for residential development in the town’s official plan, as well as the county’s official plan, and zoning is in place. “(It) permits the full development of Boblo.”
Bill King, manager of planning services for the county, could not be reached for comment.
Prince said in its current state of development, Boblo is not sustainable.
“Amico is funding the island’s operation in a large way and we’ve done that for five years while we’ve been waiting on this application and we just want some decisions made,” Prince said.
“If the decision is that the island cannot have any further development, then we’ll review our options at that time and make some decisions,” she said. “But the idea of Amico continuing to subsidize the island’s operations is getting a bit old for us.”
Prue said there are other residents with “many, many concerns,” including worries about the ferry service not being adequate, problems from increased traffic, inadequate sewer capacity and flooding possibilities.
Some condo residents are worried about “having their view destroyed” of the waterfront while others fear the destruction of the marina “because there will be houses built all around it,” he said.
There are approximately 200 residential units currently on the north end of the island. Homeowners pay for 24-hour ferry service to and from the mainland.
“We didn’t set out to own an island,” Prince said. “We were the largest creditor when the former owner could not fulfil his financial obligations and for that reason we became the reluctant owner of the island.
“We paid all the debts of the former owner, we made the municipality whole from a financial perspective, and we did all of that with the understanding that there were significant development opportunities on the island,” she added. “And now that we’re not developing, it’s getting very frustrating for sure.”