Terminals info session

Picton Terminals explain plans for development

The first of three information sessions hosted by Picton Terminals and the Doornekamp family took place last Thursday outdoors at the company site. The company is seeking a change in zoning to allow it to expand its existing transshipment use by obtaining permission to use the entire site for outdoor storage, and also to include a facility for cruise ship docking. The company notes that the proposed development conforms to the County’s Official Plan. The site will principally remain a bulk cargo destination, with the cruise ship docking being a complementary purpose. When fully operational, which may take three to four years, Ben Doornekamp expects an additional 42 visits to the port by container ships, and up to 20 visits by cruise ships typically having around 200 passengers. For comparison, approximately 100 vessels docked at the port during 2019.

Ben Doornekamp led the information session and says that it was intended for people to ask specific questions about the project. “We want to have more intimate personal discussion with people that are more involved in what we do,” he says. “This is for people to come, talk to the owner, talk to the team, so that people, whether they buy into Picton Terminals or not, have the facts. Our goal is that as long as people make decisions based on facts, I’m totally happy.” He adds that the site as-is has sections that are legal non-conforming and sections that are not zoned properly and the rezoning application is an effort to make the entire property “what it should be—there’s no grey area”. He explained that ports are intended to serve an entire region, rather than simply the community where it is located, and that it takes time and money to build one. “We’re going to be servicing from one side of Toronto, to Ottawa, to Cornwall. If the zoning decision is a ‘no’, what you see here doesn’t change, it just makes it harder to expand. If we can’t get the zoning approved, it handcuffs the port, the opportunities and potential, therefore nobody in the region can take advantage of what ports bring.” Doornekamp said that a Wardens Caucus study report from a few years ago recommended spending $250 million to build a port in the region. “What we’re saying to the taxpayers is to keep your $250 million. We’ll do the investment, do all the work, and potentially bring something to the County, rather than taking tax dollars,” says Doornekamp. The proposed port will handle container ships coming from Halifax, initially bi-weekly, with a capacity of 800 20-foot containers. He expects that regional industry will take advantage of the ability to send their products—such things as agricultural products or scrap steel—back to Halifax for further distribution worldwide.

Doornekamp says the overall environmental impact of the expanded port will be a positive one, in part by reducing the volume of truck traffic originating from the port in Montreal. He also says that County studies show no adverse effect on the municipal water supply to Picton residents, since the container ships do not draft as deep as other cargo ships, and are less likely to stir up bottom sediment.

Stephen Burnett of the Great Lakes Cruising Alliance was on hand to speak about the potential use of the port for cruise ship docking. He indicated that cruise ship capacity is typically around 200 passengers, nowhere near the behemoths that ply the oceans. His company has been operating in the Great Lakes for 22 years, and at one point had considered anchoring ships off Long Reach, but that proved to be unfeasible. “For many years we’ve looked at the County and we said it would be wonderful to show it to some of our cruise guests, and because there’s not been a port close enough, it’s always been a bit of a challenge,” he says. “Cruising is one of the arms of economic development. A cruise ship has a catchment area of around 65kilometres. If we can get a ship to the County, we can spread that economic value. There are wonderful tourism attractions, many of them nature-based. You have wonderful wine, wonderful cider, great cheese, and you have this amazing Sandbanks.” He notes that the additional influx of cruise ship guests would be practically invisible in the normal County tourist season, amounting to perhaps three or four motor coach loads each week. With the cruise industry essentially stuck in neutral due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Burnett does not envision this taking place until 2022 or even later.

The possibility of a deep-water port operating in Picton can provide a stimulus for industry in the region, says Tracey Snow, Economic Development Officer for Lennox & Addington County, who attended the information session. “We’re very excited about this opportunity, from a tourism aspect on cruise lines, and in terms of economic development from bringing in industry that can take advantage of the port for exporting and importing products,” she says. “We see this as a big advantage. We have a lot of large corporations across North America looking at our region, anywhere between Belleville and Brockville, and I think we’ll have a massive advantage by offering this as a support service.” She says that Lennox & Addington is just 30 minutes from the US border and the cost of property is a lot less than in Montreal or Toronto, offering a major cost saving for any company seeking to build there. She says that expanding the port in Picton makes a lot of economic sense. “I think it’s going to have a lot of advantages. We’ve got really great economic developers in eastern Ontario that help support this growth. I think it’s a win-win.”

For Doornekamp, these information sessions are a way to spread his company’s message about all the advantages an expanded port will bring to the County and surrounding area. “A lot of people have reached out to us—from different councils or economic groups—because they want to learn more about it. We want people to come and ask their questions and get the facts on what’s happening here.” The next information sessions are Thursday, September 24 and Thursday October 1, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more details on how to attend, please email sandy@doornekamp.ca. To see the scope of the project, please visit haveyoursay.thecounty.ca/planning and go to the “Picton Terminals” sectio