OMB rejects Stoney Lake wetlands condos
A developer’s plan to build condos along the northwest shore of Stoney Lake, on a piece of wetland-strewn land considered sacred by local First Nations, has been rejected by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
It took about a year for the OMB to make its decision. The 19-day hearing drew a large crowd of concerned citizens daily, when it got underway in September 2016, and was presided over by board member David Lanthier.
The 140-page decision states that there wasn’t proof the condo development wouldn’t harm two provincially-significant wetlands on the site.
The development was proposed for a 675-acre swath of land called the Fraser Estate (after its long-time owner, Gordon Fraser, a Progressive Conservative MP for Peterborough from 1940 until 1953).
The land is now owned by a Vancouver-based development company called Burleigh Bay Corp. (BBC).
BBC developer Ron Dick proposed a condominium complex with 58 building lots plus a network of roads, private driveways and private septic systems.
The plan also included a clubhouse, tennis courts, swimming pool, parking lot, beach and 72-slip marina.
But the decision states there’s a multitude of animal, amphibious, bird and plant species on the site, and that some are species at risk (the Blanding’s turtle and the muskellunge, for example).
The development would clear away habitat for many of these species, the decision states, and yet the developer had “guesstimated” wildlife movements on the site.
The board was also unconvinced there would be enough water to adequatelyservice the development, and there was also “unresolved” debate as to whether the site is sacred to First Nations.
The decision states there aren’t any alterations the developer could make to the plans that would make things better – the presence of this large development couldn’t help but disturb the two provincially significant wetlands and the species that live there.
“Although it may be possible for a substantially altered development to occur within the entirety of the lands, the development does not represent good planning and development,” states the decision.
“Accordingly, the board is unable to approve the applications to support Burleigh Bay Corporation’s proposed development.”
Nobody from Burleigh Bay Corp. could be reached for comment Tuesday. Jonathan Wigler, the Toronto lawyer representing the developer, couldn’t be reached for comment either.
Opposing parties in the OMB hearing were Curve Lake First Nation, North Kawartha Township (which had turned down a rezoning) and the Friends of the Fraser Wetlands Inc. (a citizens’ group).
“We’re elated,” stated Heather Brooks-Hill, a third-generation Stony Lake resident and director of Friends of Fraser Wetlands.
“This gives the Kawarthas a breathtaking opportunity top reserve an extraordinary natural setting that can’t be replaced,” she stated.
Chief Phyllis Williams of Curve Lake First Nation was also pleased.
“Our elders asked us to save this wilderness and all the species in it, to respect the ancestors and the land they frequented years ago,” she stated in the same release.
The decision states that two witnesses provided evidence on water and hydrogeology – Chris Rancourt for the developer, and Ken Howard for Friends of the Fraser Wetland.
The board found that Rancourt gave “underwhelming testimony”, at one point saying he expects they would be “in pretty good shape” when asked whether he thought there would be an adequate supply of well water for the development.
David Donnelly, the lawyer for both the Friends of the Fraser Wetlands and Curve Lake First Nation, called it a landmark decision on par with victories such as the one that protected the Oak Ridges Moraine.
“The decision is a new roadmap for land-use protection for provincially-significant wetlands and Blanding ’s turtle habitat,” he stated in a release.
“Given that the township produced no environmental evidence and there is no conservation authority in the area, the decision vividly underscores the necessity and value of citizen group participation in protecting the planet.”