City and township must strike a deal

Have you ever had a neighbour who got on your nerves? Maybe they play their music a little too loud, or perhaps they do not mow their lawn as timely or as often as you’d like.

The relationship between the City of Peterborough and the Township of Cavan Monaghan could be described in a similar way: Neighbours who as of late have not agreed with one another, particularly on the topic of development, amalgamation of land and a provincial ministerial zoning order (MZO) request.

Specifically, at issue this past month is a proposed development of 70 acres of vacant land on the northwest corner of Brown Line and Airport Road in Cavan Monaghan.

If approved and brought to fruition, this project will see the construction of three industrial buildings totalling 150,000 square feet.

The problem with this MZO, at least for the city, is this property is located within a sort of buffer zone around the city, particularly in an area that the city has had its eyes on for quite some time.

For decades, amalgamation of township lands has been a side conversation which at various times has had the potential of becoming a reality.

Yet, every time a deal has come close to being made, something has soured the conversation.

In 2017, a proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) was put forth highlighting 4,140 acres of land that the township was willing to part with, for a fair price.

The township reasonably had wanted to be compensated an annual set amount, $2.5 million a year for 25 years to make up for lost revenue. The city, however, decided it wanted to forgo a public conversation until there were amendments made to the MOU.

The city did not want to commit to annual payments and instead wanted to compensate the township as the land was developed and so the MOU fell through.

Now, five years after that MOU was drafted, development in the region has remained stagnant.

That very buffer zone has become a land of wasted potential. Over the past six years, the owner of the property requesting the MZO has considered and proposed potential options for developing the land, yet nothing has panned out.

City staff, notably chief administrative officer Sandra Clancy and chief planner Ken Hetherington, decided to step in and write an unsolicited letter to the province on April 8 asking it to reject the MZO.

City council on Monday decided to double down with a 10-1 vote to send its own letter requesting the MZO be denied.

Apparently, no one sees an issue with staff acting on their own accord without the guidance of council first. For a letter to already be sent, before council even discussed the matter, speaks to a wider issue. Why does city staff feel they can act on their own accord without hearing from the voice of the community first?

Only one councillor stood against the decision to send a letter to the province. Coun. Stephen Wright suggested the city does not have any business meddling in the affairs of the township. He is entirely right.

If the city wanted to dictate how the township managed its own growth and development, then perhaps the city should have made amalgamation and the development of these lands a priority during its official planning review. Instead, it opted to eye old farmland already within the city’s boundaries for potential future development.

Our region is growing, and development must match it. We desperately need more housing, especially considering how costly home ownership and rent has become, as well as job growth to sustain the viability of our future.

The city cannot have its cake and eat it too. We cannot wait for another decade’s worth of bureaucracy.

Both the city and the township must come together to work out a mutually beneficial deal and end this perpetual cycle of stagnation.