Procedural fairness

Friends of South Shore urge council to do homework on expansion

There was pushback at last week’s Committee of the Whole Meeting, as Friends of South Shore are worried about the impacts to the environment should a proposed zoning ammendment be granted for a development on Soup Harbour in the southern portion of the County. The Ward family has owned Quinte’s Isle for over 35 years, taking it from a park with 40 or 50 little-used sites to one with 690 sites and that is rated in the top two per cent of trailer parks in North America. The proposed amendment would facilitate a re-zoning of the property from rural land to shore land to permit development of an additional 337 seasonal trailer sites on 32 hectares of land with more than 800 metres of shoreline frontage.

Nina-Marie Lister, County resident and graduate program director and associate professor at Ryerson University in the School of Urban and Regional Planning, provided a virtual deputation on behalf of Friends of South Shore asking for more peer reviews and community input before council makes a decision. Lister told council that it must provide procedural fairness, which to this point, it has not. “An official plan amendment requires a higher bar than other planning applications. That’s because the proponent must undertake a variety of studies to reveal and demonstrate potential impacts of this project, including environmental and natural heritage, as well as cultural heritage. They must include public consultation and consideration of the public’s interest. This has not been done to the degree necessary to substantiate and prove the developers proposal,” said Lister. “Council needs the very best information and complete studies to make good planning decisions.”

Lister’s deputation stated that the proposed development would depart fundamentally from the intended character, experience and quality of place defined in the County’s vision. More specifically, the proposal would result in significantly increased intensity of human activity along with motorized recreation and associated negative environmental impacts on the natural ecology and wild landscape character of Soup Harbour, which is positioned between two provincially significant wetlands. She also stated that the Environmental Advisory Committee has not followed up on the studies that have been submitted. “None of these matters have been considered in a scientifically robust way, and there has been no peer review. That’s a very important missing piece of evidence for council to make a justified decision.”

Lister told council that Friends of South Shore and member residents have sent multiple letters requesting public meetings and dialogue with the proponent, including four legal letters requesting specific actions, have commissioned two studies at their own expense, yet no responses have ever been received nor their correspondence acknowledged. The proponent has had the benefit of many meetings and advice with planning staff since 2016, and yet immediate neighbours and the public have never been granted acknowledgment of their concerns nor specific responses to these. Worse yet, according to Lister, the proponent has never once contacted neighbours to inform, discuss or advise on this project. “These studies were shared with the municipality and staff in 2018 and we were never responded to,” said Lister. “The municipality has not been fair or transparent to the public. Never once have we been reached out to.”

Friends of South Shore lawyer David Donnelly said approving this rezoning could set a strong precedent for other developments in the County. “Given the substantial public interest in this file, and potential negative planning precedent this development would set, it is extremely important that the County acts in as even-handed and prudent manner as is reasonably possible. Since it is highly likely that council’s decision will be appealed, this adds substantial weight to our renewed request for a fulsome public consultation process and the documentation of all key points of contact with the developer and stakeholders,” said Donnelly.

Councillor Bill Roberts pointed out that there had been at least four professional firms involved in peer review, and that the development fits with the Count’s new draft official plan. “The proposed development at Quinte’s Isle conforms to the County’s new draft official plan, which you have pointed out is not yet in effect. There is no need to designate or zone any portion of that site. It’s a natural core area or natural core area linkage,” said Roberts.

“Planning staff are not experts in cultural heritage or environmental science,” responded Lister. “Planning staff don’t have the in-house expertise to critically and properly evaluate or assess the studies that have been submitted to date by the proponent. I am asking you to do your due diligence so that you are confident as a collective council to have the best and most available scientifically credible information that includes community engagement before you come to a decision to alter or amend the official plan which is permanent.”

Council could approve the ammendment as early as next month.