Planned housing project threatens Niagara Escarpment: opponents

Opponents of a planned housing project in Ontari‐ o's Beaver Valley are warn‐ ing that the proposal opens the door to development across much of the pro‐ tected Niagara Escarp‐ ment.

The project would see 280 townhomes and 90 apart‐ ment units built close to the Beaver River near Kimberley, Ont., at the site of the former Talisman Mountain Resort, about 150 kilometres north‐ west of Toronto.

The Talisman property fal‐ ls within the Niagara Escarp‐ ment biosphere, a 725-kilo‐ metre long stretch of land that winds from Niagara Falls to the Bruce Peninsula.

Stephen Griggs, chair of the Escarpment Corridor Al‐ liance, a non-profit preserva‐ tion group, says approval of the project would boost the likelihood of developers building housing on other es‐ carpment properties with the same status as the Talisman lands.

"Our concern is if this de‐ velopment is allowed to pro‐ ceed, it will make it so much easier for others to follow," Griggs said in an interview.

"We are tremendously concerned with the pro‐ posal," said Griggs. "The viewscape of the heart of the Beaver Valley, which is the heart of the Niagara Escarp‐ ment, would be destroyed forever."

Ontario's Niagara Escarp‐ ment Plan has governed land use across the area since its creation by the province in 1985. While the plan protects much of the escarpment, de‐ velopment is permitted in sections classed as recre‐ ational use. That includes the former Talisman property, which hasn't operated as a ski resort since 2011.

There are 34 properties across the escarpment cover‐ ing more than 6,600 hectares designated as recreational use that could be developed in the same way, according to research by the Escarpment Corridor Alliance.

That's more than twice the size of the lands that Pre‐ mier Doug Ford's govern‐ ment opened up for develop‐ ment in Ontario's Greenbelt, before scrapping the plan in the face of public opposition.

"This is a very serious is‐ sue for the province and one that the provincial govern‐ ment should be focused on," said Griggs.

The company behind the Talisman project, Beaver Valley Development Group, submitted a detailed plan to Grey County in mid-April.

CBC News asked company officials for an interview. In an emailed statement, Paul Mondell, vice-president of development and planning, said the proposal "will create and preserve significant open space on the majority of our land, support and enhance infrastructure needs of the community, provide new em‐ ployment opportunities and in a small part contribute to the much needed housing supply for all of Grey Coun‐ ty."

Beaver Valley Develop‐ ment Group's website de‐ scribes the homes as "a mix of housing choices that will appeal to both end users that want to live and play in the area and investor units, with a professionally man‐ aged rental program."

The company says their project will "revitalize" the Beaver Valley.

'We need to protect it'

However, some local residen‐ ts believe the scale of the project is far too big for the rural area.

"We have something spe‐ cial in the Beaver Valley and

we need to protect it," said Erica Ferguson, who grew up in the area and works as a family doctor.

"We don't want to have it become Brampton. We don't want to have it become [the town of] Blue Mountains," she said.

The proposal for 370 housing units would instantly triple the number of homes in the town of Kimberley and make for the largest single subdivision across Grey High‐ lands, a municipality of only 4,100 households, according to census data.

"Top to bottom, this makes no sense," said Fergu‐ son in an interview. "The only way it makes sense is it's going to put some money in some people's pockets and we're going to lose way more than we gain."

Land sold for $2.5M

The Municipality of Grey Highlands, which became the owner of the Talisman lands after the resort went bank‐ rupt, sold a two-parcel pack‐ age totalling 55 hectares to private equity firm Westway Capital Inc. in 2022 for $2.5 million.

Griggs criticizes the sale as a "sweetheart deal." The price was $275,000 less than an offer made by the Escarp‐ ment Biosphere Conser‐ vancy, a land-preservation charity.

The two parcels are above and below the former ski runs. Beaver Valley Develop‐ ment Group's current pro‐ posal is for the lower parcel, and the company hasn't made public its plans for the upper portion, which borders on the Bruce Trail along the ridge of the escarpment.

Joel Loughead, a Grey Highlands councillor who was elected after the land sale and lives near the Talis‐ man lands, says there's "a lot of resistance" to the project, particularly among people who live in and around Kim‐ berley.

"The proposed develop‐ ment is simply outsized for the size of our community," Loughead said in an inter‐ view. "It's not in keeping with why we love the area, why so many of us have chosen to make this our home."

The development pro‐ posal still requires approval by the councils of both Grey County and the Municipality of Grey Highlands, as well as the Niagara Escarpment Commission - the provincial agency that manages the es‐ carpment plan.

"Certainly there is a desire from some councillors and some staff and maybe even some residents to develop, but in my experience and among who I'm talking to, it's not the majority opinion," said Loughead.

"Most people here [in the

Beaver Valley] especially un‐ derstand that this is not a place that should be devel‐ oped to this capacity," he said.

Developer says plan complies with zoning rules

Beaver Valley Development Group says the subdivision proposal it's submitted to Grey County is in compliance with current zoning and plan‐ ning rules and says 75 per cent of the property cannot be developed.

Grey County Warden Bri‐ an Milne, who leads the council made up of the may‐ ors and deputy mayors of the nine municipalities in the county, says the property's zoning has long allowed for housing.

"So really it's not a ques‐ tion of will there be develop‐ ment, it's more a question of what will the development look like should it go ahead," Milne said in an interview.

"I don't think more people coming [to live in the area] in itself is a problem. It's just a matter of making sure that the impacts are mitigated ap‐ propriately," he said.

There's a long way to go before Grey County council will make any decision on the subdivision proposal, and public hearings will be held before that, said Milne.

"We're not going to skip any steps just because it's housing," he said.

Milne says he has con‐ cerns about what he called the provincial government's "singular focus" on getting housing built.

"I'm saying, 'Not that fast.' There are a lot of other con‐ siderations to be made be‐ fore we start slamming twoby-fours in the air and putting houses up," said Milne.

Griggs, of the Escarpment Corridor Alliance, says this project wouldn't create the kind of homes needed to tackle Ontario's housing crisis.

"It's clearly counter to the Niagara Escarpment Com‐ mission's objectives and it certainly does not fulfil any of the objectives of the provinci‐ al government around af‐ fordable housing," Griggs said.

Province has power to halt project

He and other project oppo‐ nents are asking the province to step in to stop the devel‐ opment before it gets the necessary approvals to start construction.

"With a stroke of a pen, the cabinet could make a mi‐ nor change to the Niagara Es‐ carpment Plan, which would revert this property and oth‐ ers like it back to what it should have been, before it was an operating ski hill," said Griggs.

There's no sign that Ford's cabinet is willing to make that change just yet.

Minister of Natural Re‐ sources and Forestry Gray‐ don Smith says the proposal will require a development permit from the Niagara Es‐ carpment Commission, which he oversees.

"Ministry officials will con‐ tinue to work closely with the relevant municipalities and partner authorities to ensure that the policies of the Nia‐ gara Escarpment Plan are duly considered during the review process," Smith said in a statement to CBC News.

Rob Leverty, who has lived on a farm in the area for 50 years, calls the 1985 estab‐ lishment of the Niagara Es‐ carpment Plan a pivotal mo‐ ment for Ontario, as it stopped proposed condo‐ minium development that he says "would have wrecked" the Beaver Valley.

Leverty, president of the Niagara Escarpment Founda‐ tion, says the proposal for the Talisman land presents another pivotal moment, this time to the Ford government.

"This will not be a good place to live if this develop‐ ment goes through and it won't be a good place for the wildlife that are coming here either," Leverty said in an in‐ terview.

"If we can't save this, then we're in serious, serious trou‐ ble," he said.