MEDIA RELEASE January 5, 2017
Superior Court of Ontario upholds Town of Halton Hills’ decision to deny a permit to import fill at 12519 Eighth Line HALTON HILLS, ON – In a judgement rendered November 22, 2016, the Superior Court of Ontario has supported the Town of Halton Hills’ decision to deny an application from a rural property owner for an exemption or variance to the Town’s Site Alteration Bylaw. This action effectively prohibits fill importation to 12519 Eighth Line. The owners of the property had applied to the Town for an exemption or variance to Bylaw 2010-0119. The requested exemption was to allow the importation of approximately 720,000 cubic metres of fill to the property. The purpose of the Site Alteration By-law is to prohibit or regulate site alterations within the Town of Halton Hills. It is the responsibility of the Site Alteration Committee to respond to such applications after reviewing information by the applicants and concerns from any who oppose, in order to make a recommendation to Council. After carefully reviewing information presented by both the applicant and those who opposed the application, the Site Alteration Committees recommended to Council that the application for exemption or variance at 12519 Eighth Line be denied. “The Committee felt that the application would introduce a very large scale commercial operation to a rural area of the Town; generating approximately 144,000 truck trips (72,000 each way). This activity would have lasted for 3 to 5 years and negatively affected the lives of area residents,” said Councillor Bryan Lewis, Chair of the Site Alteration Committee. In its recommendation, the Committee cited the following concerns: • • • • •
Extreme likelihood of serious damage to rural roads due to heavy truck traffic; Safety concerns for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians; Noise pollution identified by the neighboring residents; Potential dust on the roads; Potential negative impact on ground water.
Council upheld the Committee’s recommendation and denied the application. The applicants then petitioned the Court to quash the Town’s decision. In his findings, Mr. Justice D. K. Gray dismissed the request of the applicant and upheld the Town’s denial of the application for exemption. He found that the Town provided “a quintessentially good-faith example of proper municipal decision-making, leading to a perfectly reasonable result,” taking into consideration the current and future environmental concerns and the welfare of the area residents.
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About the Town of Halton Hills The Town of Halton Hills, with a population of approximately 60,000, consists of two urban centres, Georgetown and Acton, the Halton Hills Premier Gateway employment area, three hamlets – Glen Williams, Stewarttown and Norval – and several smaller settlements. Halton Hills has long been recognized for its natural beauty, active agricultural community, high quality of life and proximity to major centres, including Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto. The Town is ranked as one of the top small communities in Canada by a national magazine.
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For further information contact: Steve Grace, C.E.T. Program Manager Water Resources 905-873-2601 ext. 2315
[email protected]