LSRCA’s board decides old pro-development rules are just fine – for now

Today, the board members of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) refused to close the door to development in provincially significant wetlands.  The board’s actions have, instead, essentially invited Metrus Development Inc. to apply for a permit to build a 1,000 plus home subdivision in the heart of the North Gwillimbury Forest. This is a sad day for our forest and a betrayal of the LSRCA’s mandate to protect critical natural areas.

The board voted to adopt a staff recommendation to delay implementation of its new Watershed Development Guidelines until June 1st, creating a 30-day window for Metrus to submit a Section 28 application under the authority’s old and inadequate rules.  We know Metrus is itching to slide an application through under the old ‘almost anything goes’ rules as the company broke its own undertaking earlier this month and submitted a premature application, which the authority did refuse to consider.

It is difficult to understand how the authority’s board members think it is acceptable to leave old rules in place after recognizing the need for new rules that would bring the LSRCA in line with what has already been standard policy for every other Conservation Authority in Central Ontario for some time.  It is like acknowledging that your building code is leaving buildings unsafe, but delaying the application of new rules while you consider permit applications that only meet the old standard.

This is clearly a dereliction of the board’s duty to act in the best interest of our watershed, rather than in the best interest of a powerful developer. When Metrus does file a Section 28 application under the old rules, the board is going to have to explain to citizens how bending over backward to accommodate what it now recognizes should be illegal – building a subdivision in a provincially significant wetland – is ok because it never got around to closing this loophole earlier.

Georgina Mayor Margaret Quirk offered an intelligent compromise that would have delayed the implementation of the new guidelines until April 30th, giving staff the time they say they need to prepare for the new guidelines while ensuring that Metrus would have to apply under the new guidelines.  Her fellow board members refused to support the motion.  However, Councillor Danny Wheeler did join the Mayor in voting against delaying implementation of the new guidelines until June 1st.

The other board members will have to explain to voters why they think a developer’s interests should trump the need to protect a rare piece of natural habitat, and why they think developers should be given time to exploit what they have now recognized are inadequate and outdated rules.

It was not the LSRCA board’s finest hour.

LSRCA open letter sent out April 28 2015