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NVCA appeals Canadian Tire development over lack of flood planning

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In Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority
Dec 3rd, 2009
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By Matthew Talbot Alliston Herald November 30 2009
The development of a Canadian Tire in Angus could be stalled until at least January over a technicality and some misplaced documents.
The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) has filed an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appeal, objecting to a severance of Leesa Turnbull-Guergis’ lot at 305 Mill Street in Angus because it didn’t include provisions to deal with known flooding issues. The lot is being eyed for a Canadian Tire store.
“According to current flood plain mapping, the property is subject to flooding,” NVCA CAO Wayne Wilson said. “The basis for the OMB appeal is when the committee of adjustment created a new lot, they did not include provisions to address flood issues on the property.”
Essa’s committee of adjustment approved the severance Oct. 22 and was under the impression the NVCA had not commented.
However, in a letter to the committee dated Nov. 20, Essa planning manager Colleen Healey said staff discovered a fax on Oct. 23 that was sent from the NVCA two days before the meeting requesting a condition on the severance that would see flooding issues addressed.
The NVCA has appealed to the OMB on the basis of disagreeing with the severance and the flooding concerns not being addressed. Canadian Tire requires the severance to move forward, and an OMB appeal could threaten the development with delays.
Wilson said the NVCA considers the lack of flood planning an oversight and the NVCA would drop its appeal if the committee of adjustment includes the condition on the severance.
The committee met Thursday morning to re-visit the Canadian Tire issue, where it learned of the OMB appeal, and deferred any decision on the condition requested until it receives more technical information from the NVCA, Wilson said.
The appeal and the deferral have effectively stalled further development on the land until the next committee of adjustment meeting in January. The committee could hold a special meeting before then, however.
Wilson said NVCA and Canadian Tire engineers have been meeting to discuss flooding issues on the site and “there is still a lot of outstanding technical work.”
Essa planning manager Colleen Healey said Canadian Tire might have presented the NVCA with some information about the site that was cause for concern for the conservation authority, which may have spurred the appeal.
Turnbull-Guergis could not be reached yesterday regarding the appeal. When asked previously about the Canadian Tire deal, she offered no comment.
A lack of provisions to plan for flooding on a site that, according to the Flood Remediation Study prepared by Greenland International Consulting, is prone is inconsistent with Essa’s own official plan and provincial planning policies.
A consent was approved on the lot in October 2008 that would have seen the property be severed and ready for Canadian Tire’s development. However, that consent expired in October 2009 and had to be re-approved.
Turnbull-Guergis is the wife of Essa Mayor David Guergis.
The Guergis’ were under scrutiny earlier this year after the mayor attempted to dissolve the NVCA on the basis of its fee structure. He and his wife had attended an NVCA executive committee meeting shortly before the mayor called for the dissolution of the conservation authority and criticized the it for the barriers they said it poses for development.
Guergis has since withdrawn his motion to dissolve the NVCA and is now, instead, calling for a third-party review of the authority.
Wilson said the NVCA files one or two OMB appeals per year on development within the watershed.

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