Alliance refutes Georgina’s “misleading” release

Email from Jack Gibbon, North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance July 24 2012 

I see that the AWARE Simcoe web site has posted the Town of Georgina’s very misleading July 19th press release re: Maple Lakes Estates and Metrus’s decision to withdraw its request for a special deal.

The Town’s media release which states that “nothing has changed for the MLE development” is profoundly misleading.  It is also inconsistent with the May 24, 2012 email from Velvet Ross of the Town of Georgina which explained why a special deal (“Minutes of Settlement”) with respect to the new York Region Official Plan was necessary to allow Metrus to proceed with the mobile home park development which was approved 25 years ago.

Our lawyer’s comments on the Town’s press release are below.

 

Prior to the involvement of the NGFA, the Region of York and Metrus Developments had negotiated proposed modifications to the adopted York Region Official Plan (“YROP”) which would have granted the Maple Lake Estates development (“MLE”) a site specific transition policy that would have exempted the MLE development from the entire new regional policy regime…including its enhanced environmental protection policies for provincial significant wetlands (“PSW”) and forests. The proposed site specific policy exemption also referenced Minutes of Settlement (“MOS”) which had not been publicly released. The Region and Metrus intended to obtain Ontario Municipal Board (“OMB” or “Board”) approval to this proposed site specific exemption on July 11.

NGFA believed that the proposed exemption policy was contrary to the Planning Act and the Provincial Policy Statement, the latter of which prohibits any development taking place within a PSW.

NGFA’s lawyer contacted the lawyers for the Region and Metrus and secured their consent to the NGFA obtaining party status on July 11 at the OMB hearing considering partial approval of the YROP. In the interim, the NGFA, the Region and Metrus appeared before a Board mediator to canvass all parties’ interests and positions.

On the eve of the July 11 OMB hearing, the lawyer from Metrus/MLE withdrew its appeal seeking the site specific exemption policy for the MLE development.

As a direct result of the NGFA’s involvement:

            1) no site specific transition policy exempting the MLE development was inserted in the YROP;

            2) no MOS granting MLE special status were entered into;

            3) no MOS exempting the MLE development were inserted in the YROP;

            4) the YROP was partially approved by the OMB on July 11;

            5) the MLE development is not transitioned under the now in force YROP;

            6) the MLE development is subject to the enhanced environmental policies of the now in force YROP;

 7) over 80% of the MLE Lands are identified on Map 4 of the YROP as being within a PSW; and

8) a significant portion of the MLE Lands are also identified on Map 5 of the YROP as being within a significant forest.

While there is a 25 year old zoning approval currently in place on the MLE Lands permitting the limited development of the site only as an adult only, leased trailer park community; additional approvals, permits and servicing allocations are required prior to any such development ever occurring on these lands. Furthermore, such approvals are required by law to be consistent with the current Provincial Policy Statement and conform with the now in force YROP.

In addition, the Planning Act now requires that the Town of Georgina’s Official Plan and Zoning By-Law must be amended to conform with the now in force YROP and its enhanced environmental policies and recognition of the PSW covering the majority of the MLE Lands. If the Town fails to amend its planning policies within the next year, the Planning Act authorizes the Region to make the necessary modifications to those Town planning policies.

Georgina news release