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Burl’s Creek OMB pre-hearing underway

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In Agencies
Feb 4th, 2016
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Burl's Creek

By Patrick Bales, The Orillia Packet & Times

At 11:10 a.m, 40 minutes after the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) pre-hearing on a temporary zoning bylaw amendment for Burl’s Creek Event Grounds was supposed to begin, a somewhat-disgruntled resident stood up.

The man, who didn’t identify himself, seemed harmless enough. He jovially asked how everyone was doing before getting into an impassioned speech about the need for the voices of all residents in Oro-Medonte Township to be heard on the matter before the board. The delay, he said, was an example of the way the township’s residents have been disrespected during the entire Burl’s Creek saga.

The restless crowd was enthused. About five minutes later, a Bronx cheer emanated when the various lawyers and OMB members entered the room. It lightened the tension in the gymnasium of the Trinity Community Presbyterian Church on Line 7, full of more than 120 onlookers, many of whom who had been waiting for two hours for the hearing to begin.

Thursday was the first pre-hearing in the case between Burl’s Creek and the Township of Oro-Medonte regarding the amendment to allow considerations for camping, parking and concessions during 28 days of the year, along with soccer pitches used throughout the spring and summer, at Burl’s Creek.

The bylaw amendment in question would be in effect for a maximum of three years and act as a bridge before a permanent bylaw could be considered by the township. The planning application for that process was first submitted to the township in December.

The planning application for the temporary bylaw amendment in question was deemed complete by township staff April 13 but was not acted on within 120 days. At that point, Burl’s Creek elected to take the matter directly to the OMB, a right made available under the Planning Act.

The temporary zoning bylaw amendment in front of the board is much more narrow than what was initially proposed, said Nicholas Macos, who represented Burl’s Creek and various other numbered companies associated with the venue. Originally, changes to the 1994 bylaw pertaining to Burl’s Creek were to be addressed, including the types of events that could be held on the grounds.

“We’re looking to not deal broadly with all the music events here, just simply whether it’s good planning,” Macos said, adding the hearing was a matter of formalizing the camping and parking arrangements used for events at Burl’s Creek over the past 22 years, providing a necessary clarification for the applicants to run WayHome Music and Arts Festival and Boots and Hearts Music Festival again.

It was one of many statements that drew a rebuttal from David Donnelly, counsel for Save Oro and the West Oro Ratepayers’ Association (WORA).

“I don’t think it’s proper to say that this a matter of clarification,” Donnelly said. “It’s a matter of establishing the lawful use of lands on the adjacent lands for camping and parking, which is something I think is a little more serious than providing clarification.”

Save Oro/WORA and Burl’s Creek are two of the six groups granted party status so far for this hearing. The Township of Oro-Medonte, the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and the five incorporating members of Friends of Burl’s Creek all declared their intention to be parties at the hearing prior to Thursday’s pre-hearing.

At the pre-hearing, Keith Doxsee, grand chief of the Montagnais Métis First Nation was granted party status, thanks to concerns he has about the archeological studies that have taken place at Burl’s Creek. According to Doxsee, at no time during the process did the township consult with the Montagnais.

None of the other parties objected to Doxsee getting party status, though Christopher Williams, counsel for the township, argued Oro-Medonte was under no obligation to consult with the group, as either the federal or provincial government would.

Al Sinclair, who serves as a director for Save Oro, also sought party status. Sinclair was not in attendance but had a proxy submit a letter to the chair with the request. It will be dealt with at a second pre-hearing, scheduled for Feb. 26.

A clipboard was passed around the church for people to sign up as participants for the hearing. Participants in an OMB hearing can make statements to the board on issues but cannot call witnesses, submit evidence or participate in cross-examination.

Donnelly and Macos were often at odds throughout the hearing, but perhaps none as divisively as when the supposed copyright of certain expert reports was brought before the board. The Save Oro and WORA lawyer said his clients disagree with what they saw as Macos trying to set his own rules for disclosure at the hearing.

He called on the board to issue an order for discovery and shared an email correspondence with Macos in which he was required to agree to ensure the documents would be used only for peer review and challenge at the OMB and not end up published online or in print, without permission from the author of Macos’s client.

Donnelly felt that was not a request Macos could make.

“These, sir, are public documents. I am required by my client to distribute these documents freely,” Donnelly said. “Mr. Macos cannot make this claim in a public forum like the board.”

Macos defended the request, reiterating the documents, which pertain to issues such as noise and agriculture, were available for all parties at the board.

“I don’t have any problem with the proper use of these reports,” he said. “Any party can and will have access to them … I’m just not looking to have them published all over the Internet.”

Colin Hefferon, the OMB member presiding over the case, sided more with Macos than with Donnelly.

“What the board would like to preclude is trolls getting access to it, and take a phrase and kind of maliciously twist it,” he said. “That in no way precludes Mr. Donnelly’s sharing the information with his client group.”

The second pre-hearing will see the parties discuss a draft procedure order and a draft issues list. At that time, the dates for the full hearing will be set, which, Hefferon indicated, would begin in mid- to late May.

One Response to “Burl’s Creek OMB pre-hearing underway”

  1. Ann says:

    The next Burl’s Creek PHC will be held on Friday February 26 at 10:30AM.

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