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Opinion Pieces

What was Halton Region Council’s Role in Saw-Whet?

The Saw-Whet Proposed OMB Settlement (Development Application) came before Halton Region Council on November 9, 2016 and after an in-camera session a Motion was moved by Mayor Rob Burton and seconded by Councillor Duddeck. The Motion carried, but Chair Carr, Councillor O’Meara, Councillor Elgar and then Councillor Meed Ward voted against the Motion.

In addition to approving the Motion to endorse the proposed settlement Council determined that a portion of the property municipally known as 1179 Bronte Road as surplus to Halton’s municipal needs and requirements.

The Commissioner, Legislative & Planning and Corporate Counsel for Halton Region reported to Halton Council in a memorandum dated November 9, 2016 confirmed that “by declaring these lands surplus, the adjacent landowner could acquire the lands to implement an appropriate planning solution for transportation and notice attenuation issues related to the proposed development.”

The Commissioner, Legislative & Planning and Corporate also stated that, “The subject lands were comprised of a 4.605-acre parcel of land at the north end of the Halton Regional Centre and were being used for surplus parking, soil storage and stormwater management purposes. It was stated that approximately 1.4 acres of the acquired lands would be dedicated for municipal road purposes and one acre was to be encumbered for stormwater management uses, thereby leaving a developable parcel of 2.2 acres.”

The fact that Halton Council deemed the 4.605 acres surplus on the premise that it would allow the developer to acquire the lands in order to resolve issues with the development reflects that they directly assisted the developer to bring their development to fruition contrary to the public outcry against the development. In addition, the settlement approval also approved 1,181 residential units when the developer originally requested for approximately 875 units and I would question if the surplus land may have contributed to the increased number of units.

Michael Reid
Candidate for Ward 5 Town Councillor
Oakville

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