Take OMB adjudicator off the case: Save Oro

By Andrew Philips Orillia Packet & Times

An Oro-Medonte Township group that plans to oppose Burl’s Creek Event Grounds at an upcoming Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing wants a few changes to take place before then.

Lawyers representing the West Oro Ratepayers’ Association (WORA) and Save Oro want the OMB to extend the May hearing from three to 10 days while also removing OMB member Colin Hefferon, who earlier this year adjudicated a preliminary hearing on the matter that deals with a temporary-use bylaw to permit special events at Burl’s Creek.

Save Oro secretary Wendy McKay said the two groups don’t want Hefferon overseeing the formal hearing when it begins at the township offices May 24 since he was the one who prescribed strict time limits for presenters during an earlier pre-hearing session into the matter.

A third and final pre-hearing is slated for next Friday at the township offices.

OMB spokesperson Karen Kotzen said it’s not known who will adjudicate next month’s hearing because “members who oversee hearings aren’t known until the day of the hearing.”

Besides WORA and Save Oro, next month’s formal hearing will hear from Burl’s Creek, Friends of Burl’s Creek, Oro-Medonte Township, the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and the Montagnais Métis First Nation.

According to McKay, extending the hearing to 10 days is essential since close to 30 witnesses, including 21 “experts,” are slated to provide evidence, followed by cross-examination from opposing counsel.

“The 100-mile-an-hour attempt to approve a temporary rezoning of prime agricultural land for permanent destruction just hit a load of hay bales,” she said.

“Why is our investment in expert evidence being shoehorned into two hours? Condemning this community to three or six more years of this nonsense shouldn’t be done in a quick and dirty fashion.”