RESTORE COOTES

Parking Perspective

2012-01-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

West Campus parking (area mapped below includes lots K,L,M,N,O,P) previously belonged to the Royal Botanical Gardens and was used as hiking trails with trails around Binkley's Pond (now filled in and paved, Lot L) and along Ancaster Creek. The creek is still there, but the entire area is no longer recognizable as a natural area. Parking Lot M abuts the creek and runoff from the lots contaminates the water.

Just north of the parking, Ancaster Creek joins with Spencer Creek and flows into Cootes Paradise, Hamilton's largest and most impotent remaining wetland. McMaster's decision in the 1960s to turn this important area of natural habitat into cheap and expansive parking lots is a decision which still has consequences for us today.

"Very few, if any, can express the views of the Royal Botanical Gardens, as can W.J. Lamoureaux [RBG's Conservationist], in his recent review of the situation of taking over of the property of Cootes Paradise for the expansion of McMaster University….few know of the many people that enjoy the untouched and original places that the Royal Botanical Gardens preserve and maintain and it would be to the discredit of Hamilton and district if this area were ‘whittled away a little at a time’ as expressed by Mr. Lamoureaux.” (Letter to Editor, Dundas Star, June 29, 1966).

McMaster has indeed "whittled away" an important wetland habitat, and, now that we are at last talking about this area, we have a chance to reverse historic mistakes so clear to us in hindsight. It's time to start whittling away parking. Below are the current parking numbers which will be returned to the higher total of 4,276 spaces once construction projects are completed.

I suggest that we have an opportunity to re-examine our priorities in 2012, and a choice to make: nature or parking? Can we reduce parking so we can expand and restore habitat and thus create healthier and more sustainable relationships between humans and the natural world? The answer seems obvious: of course we can.

The importance of Cootes Paradise to the local ecology cannot be understated, and a pressing need to enlarge the natural hydrology of the surrounding lands presents us a challenge today. How will we answer?

Money for Nothing?

2012-01-07T00:44:00.003-05:00

The section of Zone M parking lot closed for construction, that the University/City of Hamilton intends to re-pave, has been closed since April 2009. Will someone please explain why we are spending any money on repaving this lot (even with permeable paving) almost three years later? And this while the University is still trying to entice people to park in their newish underground parking garage?

planning in principle

2011-12-31T15:25:00.000-05:00

Ancaster Creek, pre-parking conditions at McMaster (C1965)

McMaster University Campus Master Plan . March 2002

7.3.11 Existing treed areas along the rail alignment, Cootes Drive, Ancaster Creek and adjacent to Westaway Road, will be preserved as much as possible as the West Campus becomes intensified.

7.3.12 A number of opportunities exist for campus development to contribute to enhancing the water temperature, water quality and fish habitat of Ancaster Creek. A continuous stream buffer with a minimum width of 30 metres will be provided between the stream bank and the parking lot edges. This will in certain cases involve cutting back the edges of existing parking lots. The University will work with community partners to naturalize the buffer with native trees and shrubs.

7.3.13 Development of West Campus should proceed on the basis of an appropriate, state of the art stormwater management plan that directs site-related stormwater run-off water into a system of wet ponds/wetlands. An appropriate location for such a system would be between the railway embankment and Cootes Drive, outside the 30 metre stream buffer, as illustrated in Figure 7-C

7.13.14 The University shall pursue opportunities to implement a variety of techniques to clean and cool water that runs off from surface parking lots before it reaches Ancaster Creek, including but not limited to: sand filters, to screen out and trap pollutants; oil and grit separators which remove sediment, screen debris and separate free oil from stormwater; and bio-retention areas, which are depressionalareas designed to mimic pollutant removal processes present in natural ecosystems. The West Campus vision indicated in Figure 7-C demonstrates how ditches planted with vegetation that prefers moist soils but can survive dry periods can be introduced in place of medians in surface parking lots, to collect, clean and cool run-off water.

7.3.15 The University should explore a variety of opportunities to implement environmental demonstration projects on West Campus, such as installing porous paving in surface parking lots to mitigate stormwater runoff.

Changing Desire for Nature Connection

2011-12-14T22:16:00.001-05:00

“The importance of environmental protection and conservation is increasingly being recognized by society and, as people become more aware of the benefits of environmental protection, demand for passive settings and trails that connect people to nature is increasing,”

CATCH Articles:

Residents want more natural areas and trails

0digg

Dec 14, 2011

Hamiltonians identify more natural areas as their top priority for additional public spending on recreational facilities. More trails came second in the survey conducted as part of the outdoor recreational study received by councillors earlier this week, but the city is actually reducing annual funding for purchase of natural areas.

The survey asked 800 randomly selected residents to rate more than two dozen recreational features on a scale from one to five, where one meant do not spend additional money and five meant definitely spend more. Just under three-quarters (74 percent) gave natural open space a four or five in the survey.

Trails came just behind with 73 percent, while more playgrounds and park washrooms tied for third place at 72 percent. Only two other categories scored over 50 percent – more picnic areas at 68 percent and more outdoor ice rinks at 55 percent.

Soccer fields, baseball diamonds, splash pads and wading pools got strong support for funding from only between 40 and 50 percent of respondents. Community garden plots and informal play fields were in the top end of this category as well. Amenities scoring less than forty percent included tennis and basketball courts, off-leash dog areas, running tracks and football/rugby facilities. Lawn bowling, bocce and cricket were at the bottom of the list.

Support for more natural open space was consistent across the city, exceeding 70 percent in urban, suburban and rural areas, and everywhere hit 69 percent or higher for more trails. Ancaster residents gave the highest marks to both, but the localized results have a large margin of error because of the survey sample size. The overall survey results are considered accurate to plus or minus 3.5 percent 19 times out of 20.

The support for more trails and natural areas isn’t reflected in the city’s capital budget adopted last week. Last year, $100,000 was set aside for acquisition of natural areas, but staff didn’t include anything in this year’s recommendations. However, the fund got a reprieve when council decided to delay funding studies aimed at eventually expanding the urban boundary for residential development at Elfrida.

The $500,000 allocated for the latter initiative was deferred for at least a year. Because ninety percent of the funding for the studies comes from development charges, the delay only freed up $50,000. At the urging of Brian McHattie and Brad Clark, councillors agreed to put this amount into the natural areas acquisition fund bringing the total now available for land purchases to $150,000.

McHattie and rookie councillor Brenda Johnson had also challenged a $300,000 allocation earmarked for the “aerotropolis secondary plan”, but that spending was approved after staff explained it is being used to fight opponents of the aerotropolis at the Ontario Municipal Board.

The strong preference for informal facilities, rather than those serving organized sports, ran counter to the official scope of the outdoor recreational study, and thus didn’t generate specific recommendations to address resident desires which calls for more sports fields.

“The emphasis of the project is on public-use outdoor sports fields (baseball diamonds, soccer pitches, multi-use fields, cricket pitches, etc.),” stated theconsultant report. It goes on to list “other facilities to be considered (to a lesser degree)” such as basketball, tennis and bocce courts and other facilities noted above. The list also mentions “roles and functions of pathways and trails within parks”.

But “open space and naturalized areas” and “bikeways, pathways and trail systems outside of parks” are specifically identified as “excluded from the project scope” which calls for more sports fields. However the study authors comment favourably on protection of natural features and encouragement of passive recreational activities.

“Municipalities are placing a greater emphasis on the development of passive park space (e.g., woodlots, prairie grasslands, flower gardens, civic gathering spaces, trails, etc.), often ensuring that a portion of new active parks remains in a more natural state. Naturalized park spaces (whether by ‘maintaining’ a site in its natural state or ‘returning’ a site to its natural state) are becoming more popular and are consistent with many of the principles related to environmental stewardship. Naturalization typically involves reduced grass cutting and pesticide use, as well as the planting of native species, which should be accompanied by a public education program to create awareness in the community of the environmental benefits of this approach.”

Zone M-ers

2011-12-14T14:22:00.002-05:00

These four gentlemen took a hike with me into McMaster University's Zone "M" parking lot to take-in the history of the area, and to share thoughts on the potential future of this former Royal Botanical Gardens property, now a car-park.

A very light rain was no trouble at all, we even did some litter pick up at the Marx Binkley cemetery.

Thanks to Alvand from the Cootes Paradise Club for asking me to share some of my research with the group. Hopefully we can see this area restored over time to its original state.

Ponds and Parking - Hike through history

2011-12-08T14:21:00.001-05:00

1963- pre parking

In the 1960s McMaster University expanded rapidly. One casualty of the fast paced growth occurred when surface parking in the west campus effectively paved over a floodplain that had been property of the Royal Botanical Gardens. Lost were trails, ponds and tranquility for what we now know as Parking Lot M.

Wednesday, December 14th, take a walk across Cootes Drive with OPIRG McMaster coordinator of volunteers Randy Kay to explore this area and learn more about the history, and potential for restoration of lost habitat - sights include, Cootes Drive, Ancaster Creek, Trails, and a Pioneer Cemetery.

1972 - parking installed

Meet at the Occupy Hamilton area of the McMaster Student Centre Atrium (to the far left of the fireplace) at 12:30pm - wear clothing suitable for hiking in any weather.

Cootes December Rain

2011-12-05T23:47:00.001-05:00

The cold rain has not negatively impacted the beauty of Cootes Paradise, here seen from the waterfront trail looking west toward Princess Point, where a lone Great Blue Heron gracefully paced in search of a meal.

Homecoming Hollow

2011-10-01T16:21:00.003-04:00

McMaster University: Saturday, October 1, 2011.

The roar of happiness fills the air, as McMaster's football team takes a commanding lead in the annual Homecoming Weekend game. Even this far from the field of play the enthusiasm is audible, yet to my surprise, the parking lots west of campus are nearly empty...

25,000 reasons to vote in this contest

2011-09-16T17:11:00.003-04:00

This has nothing to do with the upcoming election, and all to do with helping the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) win $25,000 from, gulp, an oil company. The plan is to use the cash to re-naturalize the famous "Burlington Heights" overlooking Cootes and the Hamilton Bay, reversing 200 years of environmental degradation

The RBG describes the project this way:

Royal Botanical Gardens will carry out the following activities:

- Recreate pre-settlement vegetation communities by planting native plant species and removing non-native plant species that pose a threat to the area's environmental sustainability. This will also alleviate the need for power mowing, which will help reduce our carbon footprint.

- Rejuvenate the land by converting an abandoned parking lot to a natural setting, to promote the growth of new vegetation from surrounding woodlands.

- Convert a former maintenance works area to seasonal wetlands.

- Highlight the area's historical and natural significance through various educational signs.

On that last point, I hope the area's importance to First Nations people is recognized, including being the birthplace of Kahkewaquonaby ("Sacred Feathers") who became known as the Reverend Peter Jones. Currently the historical signage honours mostly european settler war-related events.

Anyway, please consider casting your votes for this project which would enhance the natural setting and the integrity of Cootes Paradise.

Contest deadline is October 31, 2011.

2011-09-04T16:17:00.001-04:00

What would the world look like if Nature had rights? Looking to give the natural world a chance, it appears Bolivia is moving to awarding nature equal rights to humans.

plastic litter in Spencer Creek, Dundas ON
- photo by Randy Kay

Never mind the fact that human rights are often trampled when government or corporate power/profit is concerned, but this initiative at least recognizes the fact that all species deserve a fair chance. And the law recognizes the interconnectedness of all living things, and the fact that we NEED the natural world to survive. It is a promising development, and hopefully the message of conservation will become part of the human consciousness around the world.

princess point tonight

2011-08-21T23:32:00.000-04:00

night settles on Princess Point in Cootes Paradise, August 21/11.
Photo by Randy Kay

extirpating turtles?

2011-07-25T16:31:00.001-04:00

Searching for Spiny Softshells

The eastern spiny softshell turtle Apalone spinifera spinifera is a Threatened Species at Risk historically found at Royal Botanical Gardens. For decades the RBG population has been reduced to one or two individuals seen every few years. The last confirmed sighting was in 2003.

This summer RBG made signs asking visitors to submit photographs and information if they have seen this turtle. Only a few days later we got a response! It was quickly sent to the Spiny Softshell Recovery Team, only to find that it was not our native spiny softshell.

The submitted photo was of an exotic softshell that likely made its way here through the pet trade. This turtle, narrowed down to one of two types of softshells native to the Texas area, has low chances of making it through the winter. Releasing exotic pets into the wild can also introduce diseases to naturally occurring populations and competition for food and space.

It was a false alarm, but there is still hope.
If you see a softshell turtle at RBG please submit photos and information to:
Kathryn Harrison, Species at Risk Biologist

Source: http://www.rbg.ca/Page.aspx?pid=445#softshells

[hopefully any sightings will not be as road kill on Cootes Drive...]

build on success?

2011-07-10T16:44:00.000-04:00

The short article (see below) lists some impressive accomplishments for Great Lakes rehabilitation, including successes in Cootes Paradise. I have chosen a few highlights that we should consider when addressing local issues, like parking lots and roads in former wetlands:

"Nearly 60 per cent of original wetlands have been destroyed on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario, even more between Toronto and the Niagara River. In some parts of southwestern Ontario, the loss has reached 90 per cent, one of the highest rates in the world."

“We have to take care of the little things. If we’re successful in taking care of the little things, little things become big improvements.”

"In the past, wetlands were considered breeding grounds for mosquitoes that should be drained or paved. But they are to be treasured. They brim with more life than any other ecosystem — 200 species of birds and 50 species of mammals are dependent on wetlands, which are often sanctuaries for endangered species."

[here's the full article]

Success stories for Lake Ontario

Leslie Scrivener

July 10, 2011

TORSTAR NEWS SERVICES

Walleye, sharp-toothed, gold and olive in colour, appear to be back in Lake Ontario, after decades of very low number. Lilies grow in wetlands that were once sodden mud flats. Shimmering fish sparkle beneath the water’s surface, tiny glimmers of hope that Lake Ontario can be renewed and return to full health again.

They are signs that the fish, wildlife and birds that were extirpated — locally extinct — can return to make their home in and near the lake’s waters.

The losses have been extreme. Nearly 60 per cent of original wetlands have been destroyed on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario, even more between Toronto and the Niagara River. In some parts of southwestern Ontario, the loss has reached 90 per cent, one of the highest rates in the world.

Invasive species continue to threaten the biodiversity of the lake. They include the zebra mussel and the parasitic sea lamprey, which attaches itself to fish with its sucker mouth.

Still, there are pockets of improvement. “The sheer number of waterfowl that rest on the lake during migratory period are more than anyone would believe, well over a million,” says ecologist Tys Theysmeyer. “It does remind you it is a great lake.”

“Think back to the days when Lake Ontario and Lake Erie were being written off and polluted and unhealthy,” biologist Marion Daniels says of the 1960s and 1970s. Those would be the days when algae bloomed, when dead smelt littered the shoreline, when foam bubbled grey and noxious.

“That’s been reversed in a lot of different ways.

“We have to take care of the little things. If we’re successful in taking care of the little things, little things become big improvements.”

Here are some recent ecological success stories in and around Lake Ontario.

Marshland miracles

The common carp, a half million pounds of sucker-mouthed, whiskered, heavy-scaled bottom feeders, had overtaken Cootes Paradise, part of the Royal Botanical Gardens between Hamilton and Burlington. It looked like a mud flat. Carp, introduced in the late 19th century as a replacement for salmon, sucked up sediment, rototilled plant life and left the water, polluted by runoff from agricultural land use and urban sewage, a murky mess. In one of North America’s largest wetland rehabilitation projects, which included a fishway to keep out the carp, it has become a true marshland paradise with waving cattails, pelicans (during spring migration), mink, muskrat, perch, sunfish and pike. Fifty native plants once at risk have returned. Most delightful: yellow water lilies and wild rice.

Marshlands: Bogs, swamps and shallow water — like the South Pasture Swamp at the Royal Botanical Gardens — are threatened by agricultural, industrial and urban development. In the past, wetlands were considered breeding grounds for mosquitoes that should be drained or paved. But they are to be treasured. They brim with more life than any other ecosystem — 200 species of birds and 50 species of mammals are dependent on wetlands, which are often sanctuaries for endangered species.

Wetlands: Black-crowned night herons — these are at Cootes Paradise — are wetland-loving birds that rest communally by day and fish by night. They are one of the 300 species of birds found at the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Return of the native

The water is cold and fast-running, the gravel clean in Duffins Creek, which spills into Lake Ontario at Ajax, creating a perfect nursery for Atlantic salmon. It’s one of four waterways — including the Credit River, the Humber River and Cobourg Brook — rehabilitated in the past six years to welcome the once-flourishing native species, which vanished at the end of the 19th century. Dams, deforestation, agricultural runoff had made the streams inhospitable. Add to that overfishing — there were reports of thousands being caught in single night. Now, trees are being planted on the banks to increase shade and lower water temperature, and fences are being erected to prevent livestock from polluting the stream and damaging spawning beds. Strains of salmon from Nova Scotia, Quebec and Maine have been hatched and released in Duffins Creek, some 800,000 so far. Scientists are watching to see which is the hardiest and are hoping for signs of wild reproduction.

Atlantic salmon: Since 2006 some 2.5 million young Atlantic salmon have been released into creeks and rivers that empty into Lake Ontario, a collaborative effort by 50 environment-minded citizens, government and private companies. A native species — descended from saltwater fish that adapted to freshwater — Atlantic salmon were last seen in local streams in 1896.

Great big birds

The big-winged birds have returned. Trumpeter swans, the largest of North American waterfowl, had not been seen in Ontario since the 19th century. They had been hunted to near extinction. Hundreds now overwinter in Burlington Bay thanks to the work of volunteers led by retired Ministry of Natural Resources biologist Harry Lumsden, who started a swan restoration program in 1982. Now the indigenous species with the memorable honk is self-sustaining. Another impressive bird, the bald eagle, hadn’t been seen near Lake Ontario in more than 50 years. Last fall, five were spotted at Cootes Paradise in the Royal Botanical Gardens, and one pair has made a nest there, the first on Lake Ontario in decades. There were hopes that the couple might reproduce this year, but it’s likely the male is too young to breed. Once threatened by DDT — they’d eat fish contaminated by the now-banned pesticide — they have an abundance of catfish and sunfish and lots of forested real estate where they can thrive.

Trumpeter swan: the black-billed birds (different from the orange-billed mute swans) were wiped out in Ontario until restoration efforts in the 1980s. There are now about 700 Ontario trumpeters, a population that is growing but still considered fragile.

Bald eagle: Once close to extinction, the bird with the 2.4-metre wingspan has finally returned to Lake Ontario, including Hamilton. Bald eagles need a generous amount of marsh space, 30 hectares or more, and a mature forest in which to nest.

Tiny, sparkly wonders

“It’s not super sexy,” says Gord MacPherson, “but the minnows are back.” Decades ago, the emerald shiner had fallen victim to a lake awash in detergent, fertilizer and sewage. The five-centimetre-long, iridescent fish had been displaced by alewife and smelt — you may have seen the latter washed up on the shore, says MacPherson, manager of habitat restoration for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The shiners’ return signals a new balance in a clearer, cleaner lake. “On a nice summer day, when the lake is really calm, you can see bazillions of them. When I was a kid you couldn’t see them because of the algae.”

‘White bonfires’

Lake Ontario’s shifting, restless dunes, what the poet Al Purdy called “white bonfires in the sunlight,” are continually being restored. The world’s largest freshwater sand barrier is at Sandbanks Provincial Park, near Picton. The dunes are still recovering from 19th century disturbances, when local farmers sent their cows to graze on the dunes — the loss of vegetation led to widespread erosion. Entire trees could be lost beneath the blown sand. Rehabilitation efforts include planting trees — 50,000 in the past five years — and marram grass, a native species. Fencing and walkways help reduce trampling and the impact of wandering visitors.

Sand dunes: Lake Ontario sand dunes, which are being restored and protected, can include trees and unusual plant species.

Response from McMaster re: Parking Lot M

2011-06-29T20:55:00.001-04:00

McMaster University

Office of the Provost

Vice-President (Academic)

Ext. 24301

provost@mcmaster.ca

May 10, 2011

Mr. Randy Kay

Restore Cootes

P.O. Box 19

1280 Main Street West

Hamilton ON L8R 1Y3

Dear Mr. Kay,

Thank you for your letter of March 31, 2011, addressed, inter alia, to University Planning Committee. I am responding as Chair of the University Planning Committee.

We share your interest in retaining and enhancing the beauty of Cootes Paradise and our surrounding environment. Your reference from our Campus Master Plan is evidence of our commitment, as is our alternative modes of transportation through increased biking facilities and car sharing. Our Office of Sustainability is actively engaged in improving our environment and engages students and faculty in support of our goals. Their annual report can be found at http://www.mcmaster.ca/sustainability/documents/Annual%20Report%202010.pdf

Unfortunately, the demand for vehicular transportation continues and the need for parking remains. We do, therefore, need to restore the parking Lot M. In doing so, we have changed the design of the lot to ensure compliance with our 30 m buffer zone policy and extended it beyond the previous lot-design. We have reduced the number of parking spots and as you recognize, we will be using permeable paving to reconstruct the lot. With the assistance of an investment by the City of Hamilton, we will be able to restore this lot to an environmentally responsible standard that will showcase innovation.

Thank you for your interest in our campus. I will share your correspondence with the University Planning Committee and my colleagues in administration.

Yours Sincerely,

Ilene Busch-Vishniac

Provost and Vice President (Academic)

how to pick up a turtle...

2011-06-21T18:54:00.001-04:00

Take care on Cootes Drive and Olympic Drive, a turtle hotspot!

Litman on Land Use

2011-06-10T14:34:00.000-04:00

An important and timely contribution to the literature on the vast waste of land for car-parks, from Todd Litman, Executive Director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: Why and How to Reduce the Amount of Land Paved for Roads and Parking Facilities

Todd Litman (2011).

Environmental Practice,
Volume 13, Issue 01, March 2011 pp 38-46

http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1466046610000530

Revision Re-Vision

2011-05-18T18:22:00.001-04:00

*Revised Interim Internal Traffic and Parking Report, June 1969
H.G. Acres & Company Limited
Toronto Canada

"By 1980, a demand for 7,057 parking spaces is forecast for the total university population and visitors. A continuous parking development program, estimated to cost $10,890,000, will be necessary over the years 1968 to 1980 to accommodate this demand. Because the central campus is limited in space, additional parking facilities must be located on the west campus. A bus service connecting the west and central campuses could be established if a demand arises."

7,057 spaces by 1980?: In 2007 there were 4,714 parking spaces on the main campus, with the largest parking zones located west of the main campus in what were formerly Zones 6 and 7, now lots "M" and "N".(Becker, 9), a difference of 2,343 parking spaces!

The rationale to expand parking into west campus, which was formerly a part of the Royal Botanical Gardens' "Coldspring Valley Trails" was based in a projection that turned out to be drastically overblown. We lost Binkley's Pond, trail system, habitat, etc, for unnecessary parking lots.

*This study is a replacement for McMaster University's "Internal Traffic and Parking Report" prepared by H.G. Acres in October 1967...

Litter Clean Up, Saturday, June 4

2011-05-13T16:30:00.000-04:00

McMaster Litter Clean-Up in Lot M Parking-Ancaster Creek

View Litter Clean-Up in a larger map

Time	Begins at June 4th 11:00 AM EDT ending on June 4th 1:00 PM EDT
Location	Lot M, McMaster Parking (west of Cootes Drive)
Organizers	opirg McMaster, Restore Cootes

Help clean up litter from McMaster's parking lot "M" next to the lovely Ancaster Creek. This large parking area abuts the creek and is in need of some tender loving care. The area on the other side of the creek is home to deer, turtles, beaver, hawks, and coyotes, to name a few residents.

We will meet at 11am Saturday, June 4, during World Environment Week, in the parking lots west of Cootes Drive, in Zone "M"

Bags and gloves will be provided.

The Hamilton Conservation Authority will be supplying beverages and light snacks!

Afterward, we can explore the area and uncover the history of how the Royal Botanical Gardens Coldspring Valley Trails became McMaster Parking.

For more information, or to volunteer, please contact Randy at randy.opirg@gmail.com

The Becker Recommendations

2011-05-11T09:40:00.000-04:00

The 5 recommendations from Jessica Becker's Masters Thesis: these recommendations would aid travel demand management efforts to reduce car dependency at McMaster University, and would therefore assist rehabilitation of effected natural areas. The five are:

Discourage Single-Occupant Car Use Prior to Permit Assignment
Actively Provide Transit Information with a Trial Pass
Improved and Regular Recognition and Rewards
Increased Number of Pre-Paid Parking Options
Prohibit Increases to Parking Infrastructure and its Planning

For now let's look in detail at the final recommendation (#5):

"Finally, it must be noted that the addition of further infrastructure is not recommended. With the completion of the new stadium and its underground parking facilities, the number of parking stalls on the campus will be elevated to that of what they were prior to the construction of the new residences and other facilities. Providing more parking will make it easier for those already driving regularly to campus to park, and also risk the strong possibility that those who do not already drive will begin doing so since there will be that increased space (Litman, 2006). Within the university's own Campus Master Plan, the mandate is to provide "less than average" parking facilities, and this mandate should be referred to if or when the administration begins to consider the construction of a parking facility." (Becker 92)

Her conclusion that "there is sufficient parking space on the campus" is used to warn against "consideration regarding the construction of a parking garage on campus"; Clearly, supply of parking is seen as an incentive to drive. While Becker's recommendations are not looking at the problem of parking lots in a floodplain, the bulk of her research supports the admirable goals of reducing parking demand which could easily be applied to the floodplain problem in Zone M. Less people driving means less parking demand, which would free up space for other uses.

Other uses could include rehabilitated natural areas adjacent to the creek, with the support of local conservation agencies and biologists and students at the university. So far, Restore Cootes has had no official response from the university about our letter dealing with the zone M parking problems.

excluding cars on ravine road

2011-04-22T23:20:00.000-04:00

The Ravine Road trail through the Westdale forest we enjoy during peaceful walks today wasn't an actual trail until 1960, as RBG Conservationist W.J. Lamoureux recorded in The Garden's Bulletin, February, 1961:

"From time to time we have been requested to exclude cars from the ravine road. Although this would represent a considerable saving in road maintenance, the experiment was not tried until the spring of 1960. At the moment, we believe that it is a decided improvement to the area. Walking is much more pleasant now without the dust and noise, and the necessity of dodging the many vehicles which used the road, often because the operators had nothing better to do."

Parking Probe

2011-04-22T09:42:00.002-04:00

A very useful resource to get an understanding of what is going on with McMaster Parking, and as it relates to the goal of creating a naturalized buffer between McMaster parking and Ancaster Creek, is found an MA Thesis by Jessica S. Becker: Understanding Commuting Decisions: A Case Study of Students and Staff at McMaster University, from 2007.

Tidbits like the fact the "outermost lots are rarely full, even during the fall and winter when the [University] policy is to oversell the permits of all lots by 10%" (Becker, 2) are helpful, and are supported by the experience with the temporary closure of a section of what is now known as Zone M: i.e. the closure did not result in problems for parking elsewhere on campus since it was shut down for construction of a Combined Sewer Overflow tank in 2009.

This finding supports Restore Cootes' concern that the University will needlessly repave this area for parking, thereby creating extra parking demand. As research shows

"providing more parking will make it easier for those already driving regularly to campus to park, and also risks the strong possibility that those who do not drive already will begin doing so since there will be that increased space"(Becker, 92)

In 2007 there were 4,714 parking spaces on the main campus, with the largest parking zones located west of the main campus in what were formerly Zones 6 and 7, now lots "M" and "N".(Becker, 9).

2010-2011 Parking rates for these lots are $180 per term, or monthly $45 and only $5.00 per day during peak hours, and $2.50 for evening (after 4:00pm) and weekend parking. (http://parking.mcmaster.ca/)

The research also records that the university hired an external consulting firm who "strongly suggested the development of a...TDM [Transportation Demand Management] scheme" to reduce car use, while the researcher comments "It is unclear whether or not such a scheme was ever created."(Becker, 2)

Becker cautions planners at McMaster to "avoid focusing only on the needs of those that drive" in order to move people from single-occupancy car use to other modes. She notes that

"Improvements in access to alternative transit and facilities have not been met with the anticipated participation increase due to lack of management policy that discourages driving and rewards modal changes." (Becker, 12)

Becker's research attempts to "focus on the behaviour leading to parking demand" (11) and she makes several recommendations on how to reduce travel to campus by car. We will take a look at her recommendations in a future post.

Letter "M"

2011-04-01T12:30:00.001-04:00

RESTORE COOTES

restorecootes.blogspot.com

PO Box 19,

1280 Main Street West, Hamilton ON L8R 1Y3

dundastard@gmail.com

To McMaster University Planning Committee

President Patrick Dean

Councillor Brian McHattie

March 31, 2011

Subject: Zone M Parking

Dear Planning Committee,

Restore Cootes is encouraged by McMaster University’s work to improve the sustainability of campus, and applaud efforts so far as the university makes the shift toward a smaller environmental footprint.

With the hope to build on success, we are writing to convey our thoughts on plans to re-open parking in McMaster Parking Zone M.

Our concern is that restoring parking will negatively effect the potential for an improved natural habitat adjacent to Coldspring/Ancaster Creek.

As you are aware, the campus Master Plan refers to a desired “30 metre naturalized buffer” between parking lots and the creek[i], as proposed by the Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA).

The HCA is tasked with protecting Hamilton’s natural assets, but this significant yet degraded area is of course worthy of all of our attention.

I am confident we share the desire to see the best possible outcome for the environment.

Plans to use permeable paving in place of asphalt at this site are progressive and innovative, and may indeed qualify for LEED points, but in this instance, perhaps are not the ideal. Rather, a more passive approach leading to rehabilitation of the landscape may be preferable for this section of Zone M Parking, and should rightly rank higher in terms of sustainability.

Our concern is that the plan to use this area, even for occasional “overflow” parking will disrupt any potential benefits a more naturalized surface will create using permeable pavers. At one level you will create better environment for wildlife, but using it for parking will quickly negate this benefit.

The campus has already absorbed the loss of parking since construction began in 2009, calling into question the need to replace the lost spots. Looking at campus parking level of service, it is imperative that we consider at least two variable conditions while looking to the future

1. The price of oil – we know that when gasoline prices rise, people look for alternatives to driving and will take advantage of transit and cycling opportunities where they exist This is supported by recent research that indicates

“that price sensitivity has started to increase, up to -0.1 to -0.3 in the short run, suggesting long-run elasticities of -0.3 to -0.6 (a 10% price increase [for fuel] reduces vehicle travel 3-6%)”[ii]

2. Changing demographics – when the parking lots were built in the late 60’s young people expected to drive. This is changing:

“the number of young drivers – 16-to-29 year-olds – is increasing at the slowest pace since the mid-1990s. These developments are expected to reduce growth in the vehicle buying population to 0.6 percent per annum in Canada over the coming decade.

This represents a sharp slowdown from an average annual growth in the driving age population of 1.4 percent over the past 50 years. [iii]

RESTORATION

Local efforts to restore lost habitat have been undertaken by key conservation and civic agencies under the Cootes to Escarpment Park System: Conservation and Land Management Strategy, headed by the Royal Botanical Gardens. There are several key issues identified in the report that could be applied to this site, but one will illustrate the importance of a site bordering a key waterway:

Maintaining and increasing woodland cover is probably the most important factor to protecting biodiversity in fragmented southern Ontario landscapes. At a broad regional scale, it is also valuable to have a diversity of habitats to maintain landscape richness. Opportunities for the restoration of natural connections need to be identified and implemented. Protecting and enhancing existing wildlife pathways, such as along stream corridors, and protecting natural features in close proximity to each other are also important to natural system functions.[iv]

Clearly there is much to be gained from a biodiversity standpoint to expanding the buffer between McMaster parking and the creek. McMaster’s expertise from diverse academic and research backgrounds could be brought to bear on a restoration project involving students applying their learning here in our backyard.

The importance of Cootes Paradise as a biodiversity hotspot, to the local economy and to recreational pursuits cannot be understated. It is interesting to note that the parking areas in question were, until the late 1960s, part of the Royal Botanical Gardens Coldspring Valley Trail system. (Figure 3)

To bring back lost habitat and the species dependent on the former floodplain and spring fed ponds is the kind of project that carries national, indeed, international significance, and would enhance McMaster’s reputation as an innovative and sustainable institution.

Ideally, erasing the footprint of pavement used for car-parking and restoring the ecological integrity of the area would be pursued in a staged manner. With these considerations in mind, Restore Cootes respectfully requests that McMaster University work in conjunction with the City of Hamilton, the Hamilton Conservation Authority and the RBG to

1) Leave the parking area closed due to the construction of the CSO tank vacant as prime rehabilitation lands i.e. no overflow parking

2) Reconfigure remaining parking along the creek edge to create a naturalized 30m buffer in the short to medium term

3) Create a long range plan to phase out parking in the lots west of Cootes Drive.

I hope these issues can be dealt with in a collegial environment of cooperation and mutual respect. I would be very interested in your response.

For a more sustainable campus,

Randy Kay

RESTORE COOTES

[i] McMaster University Campus Master Plan March 2002, A Strategy for Circulation and Parking 5-3

[ii] Litman, Todd Changing Vehicle Travel Price Sensitivities: The Rebounding Rebound Effect

13 March 2011

[iii] Changing demographics will hurt auto sales, http://www.canadianautodealer.ca/Sales-Marketing/Features/changing-demographics-will-hurt-auto-sales.html

[iv] Cootes to Escarpment, p.15

RESTORE COOTES is a local citizen advocacy group dedicated to protecting and enhancing natural areas in Dundas and Hamilton that have been degraded or lost to human development. Restore Cootes was formed in 2001.

endangered requires more

2011-03-31T08:28:00.001-04:00

An endangered species. We know where they are (crossing King Road), we know when they are most at risk (at night), and yet a "voluntary closure"of the threat is the best we can do?

The distance between people wrapped in their cars and these tiny creatures is too great for true empathy. How many will be run over by people who ignore the signs for the sake of convenience? Will road-kill statistics be kept? Will we be able to pinpoint a date when the last jefferson salamander was crushed beneath a car tire?

Burlington closing King Road at night for salamanders

BURLINGTON King Road will be closed Friday for three weeks to protect the endangered Jefferson Salamander.

The city has put in a voluntary closure, with signage, to try to prevent road kills as the salamanders begin their annual migration to breeding ponds to lay eggs.

Salamanders migrate at night in spring when the temperature rises above 4 C.

The closure begins Friday and continues until April 22. The city will post signs on King Road encouraging drivers to use Waterdown Road to detour.

The road will be closed daily between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Only local access will be allowed.

“A voluntary closure is a good, temporary solution while the city, Conservation Halton and the Ministry of Natural Resources investigate a more permanent approach,” Ward 1 Councilor Rick Craven said in a statement.

The city says it will continue working with Conservation Halton to study the crossing of the Jefferson Salamander and continue to make plans for the long-term future of the road and how to protect the endangered salamander.

There had been concern there wasn’t enough time to prepare for the road closure with public announcements and signage to be able to shut off the road this spring.

The Hamilton Spectator

one more step toward Eco Gateway in Dundas

2011-03-29T22:46:00.000-04:00

Veldhuis project moving forward

Endangered birds protected as work on property resumes in May

CRAIG CAMPBELL, Dundas Star NEWS STAFF
Published on Mar 23, 2011

Hamilton Conservation Authority is working with the Ministry of Natural Resources to preserve habitat of endangered birds during demolition of buildings at the former Veldhuis Greenhouse site on King Street East.

Steve Miazga, HCA chief administrator, said last week an environmental assessment of the property will resume, probably in May, after remaining buildings on the property are removed over the next month.

Three years after the HCA purchased the property, the organization finally took possession of the remaining buildings.

Those addresses are now vacant, and the HCA will start the process for obtaining demolition permits and a landscaping contractor.

“The landscaping plan will determine actual costs of developing the park area, excluding remediation costs,” Miazga said.

But he pointed out if the environmental assessment determines any on-site contamination can just be capped, expenses for cleaning the property could be minor.

Either way, demolition will pave the way for landscaping plans and site remediation, and a projected budget for the Eco-Gateway project along Desjardins Canal.

The nationally threatened chimney swift has been spotted nesting in an old chimney on the property. The bird is protected under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.

Graham Buck, species-at-risk biologist at the Ministry of Natural Resources, said the HCA had told him they will remove buildings on the site but retain the chimney as chimney swift habitat.

A detailed plan to stabilize the chimney during, and after, demolition has been developed. Once all the upcoming work has been completed, and a more detailed budget for the entire project is known, the HCA and its foundation will start planning a fundraising effort. Miazga expects that will happen in the fall.

http://www.dundasstarnews.com/news/article/232077

brilliant and beautiful responses to overbuilt environments

2011-03-23T19:08:00.002-04:00

Memories of Binkley's Pond?

2011-03-14T23:02:00.000-04:00

I am looking for people who remember Binkley's Pond, and the RBG Coldspring Trails that have now been replaced by McMaster Parking - if you have experiences to share to help with historical research, please contact Randy at dundastard@gmail.com.

Thanks for your help!

interactive map of West Campus parking

2011-03-05T13:13:00.000-05:00

View Ponds to Parking Tour in a larger map

mapping the former marsh

2011-03-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

McMaster Parking comes at a high cost to the natural world. The largest parking area ("M") is located where there were nature trails and habitat for turtles and other creatures. Close-up of parking lot M below:

Zone M parking at McMaster - the section currently closed as a result of construction of the combined sewer overflow (CSO) tank corresponds roughly to the selection below:

It is clearly visible that the parking is very close to Cold Spring (AKA Ancaster) Creek - a 30m naturalized buffer seems like the least we can do to ameliorate the destruction of habitat for parking.

before parking there was hiking

2011-03-04T10:00:00.002-05:00

Photos and a map from the Royal Botanical Gardens archive show the Coldstream Valley Trail system which existed prior to McMaster University expansion to the west in the late 1960s - a floodplain paved over for car parking, destroying prime turtle and other wetland species' habitat.
Can we restore what we've lost? The time may be right to start!

naturalize it

2011-03-03T22:56:00.003-05:00

Section of Parking Lot closed for installation of CSO tank:
Why bother to re-open it at all (it hasn't been needed)

"Expansion [of parking] in the West Campus would also have to take into consideration the Hamilton Conservation Authority's goal of a minimum 30 metre wide naturalized buffer zone along Ancaster Creek."

McMaster University Campus Master Plan March 2002

A Strategy for Circulation and Parking 5-3

McMaster University is still talking to the city about "the restoration" of the parking lot - we need to get back to talking about restoring the natural buffer zone between the creek and the cars. While this major project to install a combined sewer overflow was being undertaken, McMaster was forced to close the corner of the sprawling parking lot, and in the process found that there was enough capacity for parking without it.

Nobody seems aware of the line in the Campus Master Plan about the conservation goal of a 30 m buffer. (The beaver don't seem too concerned mind you: this tree was recently taken down by beaver steps from the parking lot)
The university's botched front entrance at Main Street is still getting millions in reworking to address the abundant safety problems, but down in the more remote parking west of Cootes Drive, the beaver, the hawks, the turtles and the deer need allies.
Ideally, this entire parking lot would be removed and the former wetland and trails (once owned and operated by the Royal Botanical Gardens) restored to the glorious habitat it once was. Parking lots or Wetlands, that really is the question here.

RBG=Restoration

2011-02-24T09:33:00.000-05:00

RBG presents: Project Paradise Open House

February 24, 2011, 7 to 9 pm RBG Centre (café annex), 680 Plains Road West, Burlington

The RBG wetland restoration staff are presenting information on the progress of therestoration of Cootes Paradise. How did the marsh restoration progress despite the Fishway being underwater for two days in March 2010.

This is a free event sponsored by Environment Canada (Great Lakes Sustainability Fund), and provides an opportunity to visit with our staff. It includes a mixture of presentations and displays in the café annex.

only natural

2011-02-18T19:10:00.000-05:00

A flood warning for Dundas features this news: "flooding in low-lying areas along Lower Spencer Creek" - which would only be a problem if humans built roads, houses, and businesses on floodplains. Which they did.

Flood advisory issued for Dundas

The Hamilton Conservation Authority has issued a warning to Dundas residents of possible flooding in low-lying areas along Lower Spencer Creek Friday.

The warm weather over the last two days has broken up the ice over the creek, resulting in an ice jam at the Thorpe Street Bridge, according to the authority.

Officials are warning drivers to be careful when travelling in the area bounded by East Street, Dundas Street and King Street East and Cootes Drive, where there is possible roadway overtopping. Olympic Drive may also be affected.

Spencer Creek is expected to peak later Friday evening as temperatures drop.

The authority is also warning people to keep children and pets away from all creeks at this time. Officials are continuing to monitor the stream and ice conditions.

The Hamilton Spectator

nature restores nature

2011-01-31T16:45:00.000-05:00

CATCH the Pleasant, nay, fantastic news!

2011-01-24T20:57:00.001-05:00

Finally!

Pleasantview appeal dropped

The landowners pushing for residential development in the last rural area of Dundas have abandoned their Ontario Municipal Board appeal of the city’s new rural official plan. Bella Court Developments Limited and three numbered companies had been seeking permission for 760 units along York Road. This appears to be the final chapter in a saga dating back to the early 1990s that last year saw the provincial government agree to place the Pleasantview lands under the protection of the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

(Source: Citizens at the City Hall)

idea factory for east end

2011-01-08T12:48:00.001-05:00

My first thought when I saw this lovely project was: east end of Dundas:

If ever the Hydro building was in a position to be repurposed, something like this would be a beautiful attraction to the area.
Celebrating the outdoors and helping create healthy recreational opportunities would enhance this part of Dundas, so long used as a dumping ground/industrial zone.
Hamilton's interest in cultural policy relating to development should follow Toronto's, according to Hamilton's Cultural Heritage project manager Ali Sabourin:

Toronto’s cultural policies are used in development, for example, by looking at the cultural corridor around a site and how the developer can “add to the vibe of the area”....We want the spaces to reflect what’s interesting in the area,” Sabourin said. [source: Hamilton Spectator]

So, transforming the east end from literal dumping ground into a natural/recreation region would begin by restoring the natural beauty so abundant, but neglected, in previous development. Extending the "vibe" of Cootes Paradise, Lake JoJo, Spencer Creek, and the historic Desjardin's Canal would re-define this special locale.

support in paper

2011-01-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

The editorial position of the Hamilton Spectator is in support of the restoration project at Crooks Holllow Dam. Read it below:

Dam decision tough, correct

CROOKS HOLLOW DAM The area conservation authority had to make tough call when it OK'd demolishing the Crooks Hollow dam beloved by local residents.

Hamilton Spectator file photo

Striking a balance between being environmentally and socially responsible is never easy. The Hamilton Conservation Authority’s decision to go ahead with a $1-million project to demolish the aging Crooks Hollow Dam in Greensville is a good example.

In case you missed this story, it centres around the decision to go ahead with the plan to remove the dam and rehabilitate the river system in the area to return it to a pre-dam state. Local residents, hundreds of whom signed petitions and protested the plan, are predictably unhappy. And if you’ve visited the area to enjoy the scenic and sensory pleasures offered by Crooks Hollow, you might understand why they disagree with the decision, which will undoubtedly alter the bucolic landscape they are accustomed to, and in fact might have moved to the area to enjoy.

But the dam, which was built in the early 1900s to serve as a water supply for Dundas, is badly in need of repair and reconstruction. The estimated cost of that work is $1.2 to 1.4 million, which makes it considerably more expensive than the cost of removing all or most of the structure and letting Spencer Creek rush through as it did before dam was built. There are factors other than cost to consider. The dam does not serve any flood-control purpose. In fact, now that Dundas’s water supply is Lake Ontario, the only real reason for the dam is aesthetic — the structure and the adjacent 600-metre-long reservoir offer a peaceful and beautiful respite from urban life, as well as a home for flora and fauna.

What should the conservation authority have done? Pay a higher price to rebuild the dam, or remove it and restore the area creek and river to its original form, before it was altered by the dam and by location of numerous mills and other manifestations of human settlement?

The answer, with greatest respect to area residents and others who have fought to keep the dam, is the latter. In this era of fiscal restraint, any taxpayer-funded organization that chooses a more expensive decision over a cheaper one needs to have a very good reason. And that reason does not exist in this case. Just imagine the furor directed at the HCA had it chosen the higher-cost option with the only rationale being to respect the sensitivities of people who live in the area? And it’s not as if the HCA is removing the dam in favour of less-rustic development. In fact, Spencer Creek and area will end up being closer to its original state than before, and that is bound to have positive impact on the local environment overall.

This had to have been a tough call for HCA board members. But their obligation in the end is to the larger group of stakeholders who have an interest in conservation holdings, and expect decisions to be made with the big picture, not local parochial interests, front and centre. In that context, this is the right thing to do.

Howard Elliott

back to nature

2011-01-04T09:59:00.001-05:00

The Hamilton Conservation Authority is moving ahead with the task of removing a dam and restoring the original watercourse on Spencer Creek at Crooks Hollow.

Restore Cootes has supported this move since it was first announced. This type of project is philosophically central to this blog's mandate: i.e. to restore disrupted patterns of nature. Human interventions have weakened the natural world's ability to sustain life, and looking at local projects that can restore natural processes and enlarge habitat for biodiversity, well, that's exactly what we want to see more of.

Below is the news article from the Hamilton Spectator.

Deadline for a beloved dam

Gary Yokoyama/The...

DUNDAS A $1-million project to demolish Crooks' Hollow Dam and rehabilitate the area will be finished by the end of 2012, says the Hamilton Conservation Authority's chief administrative officer.

Despite hundreds of residents protesting the removal of the aging structure near Greensville, the authority has recently contracted Hatch, an engineering consultation company, to determine the best way to take down the dam and rehabilitate the river system in the area, said Steve Miazga.

The demolition of the dam, which is almost a century old, and the restoration of Spencer Creek will start in 2011 and be completed in 2012, he said, adding the public consultation phase will begin by late winter.

“The environment will be restored to what it was originally — that was a creek or river system … It has shifted away because the history of established mills or dams on the creek created artificial ponds and reservoirs,” Miazga said.

“The most important concern currently is that, with a major storm — for example a one-in-100-year storm which we had two to three instances of last year — the dam could blow out and create downstream damage both to the natural environment and possibly the built environment,” Miazga said.

The dam, built in the early 1900s as a water supply to Dundas, does not serve a flood-control purpose, he said.

Renate Intini collected more than 700 signatures to stop the demolition.

She said she believes the authority didn't take the public input into consideration when it made decisions to move forward.

Intini said people were initially presented with options, such as repairing the dam or building a weir, but the group of neighbours could not raise the $1.2 million needed to fix the structure.

“We poor suckers think we have options,” Intini said. “We don't have options. They already have in their mind what they're going to do.”

The 58-year-old has lived in Greensville for about 35 years. The dam and reservoir have been a beloved part of her memories, including a moment 25 years ago she shared with her daughter. Intini had bought the toddler three ducks and they canoed out on the water so the ducks could swim.

“Everybody's got a story about going to this dam,” she said.

Community members have rallied to keep the dam over the last year.

The Optimist Club of Greensville held a walkathon to raise money for the dam and reservoir in 2009.

The authority's board of directors voted September, 2008, to demolish the dam, but asked for an updated staff-recommendation report when residents protested the decision.

The updated report still recommended removing the dam as a better option than repairing it or constructing a weir.

money and marshes

2010-12-29T09:45:00.000-05:00

sight versus sound

2010-12-26T11:31:00.002-05:00

Out of sight, but not out of hearing range, the 403 disrupts the quiet on the Ginger Valley Trail at the eastern edge of Cootes Paradise. Cootes Drive does the same at the western end.

Walking along the Ginger Valley trail my 15-year-old daughter commented that she can't remember ever walking on a trail where she couldn't hear traffic.

Roads bisect and disrupt the natural areas we have, fragmenting both habitat, and the experience of habitat. Even when out of sight, traffic interferes with the enjoyment of nature, and has become the background soundtrack to our lives.

The ironic thing is, to escape, we must get in cars and drive hours away, and even then, must work to get away from vehicular noise.

Is there a place locally that defies the constant hum or drone of motor vehicles?

History of Cootes Drive

2010-12-23T10:08:00.002-05:00

mind set

2010-12-20T13:25:00.003-05:00

This biographical piece about Herman "Jack Rabbit" Smith Johannsen by the NFB offers insight into the kind of thinking we need if we are to restore our human experience, that is, to reconnect with the earth that gives us all we need to live.

Of course if we value money over the land, then the land will suffer. We will not imagine restoring Cootes if we do not share a relationship with the land.

As Johannsen says in the film, getting closer to nature frees one from the cares of finances, and for him, offered the kind of life he wanted. We could, and should, do much more to make the natural world accessible to those who can't afford cottages or get-away weeks, by enlarging and restoring the natural gifts we have in this area.

another lap around the velodrome

2010-12-16T10:32:00.003-05:00

Dundas councillor Russ Powers, originally a member of the board for the National Cycling Centre Hamilton, is back in the middle of the Velodrome discussion, now as one of the city's reps on the Hamilton Velodrome Advisory Committee - the other representatives from council are Whitehead, McHattie, and Pasuta. (the terms of reference require three councillors, but there appear to be four on the HVAC).

The purpose of the HVAC is

" to provide advice, input and support for the development of a permanent velodrome in Hamilton as part of the 2015 Pan Am initiative and legacy. The aims of the Hamilton Velodrome Advisory Committee are:

• To review and provide input on the site location for the velodrome;

• Review and provide expertise on the design of the velodrome.

• To review and assist with the development of a funding plan for the future velodrome facility in Hamilton;

• To review and provide input in the implementation of the business plan with respect to sustainability, programming options and legacy opportunities;

• Support the 2015 Pan Am games legacy initiatives that build on the four pillars of sport development (participation, excellence, capacity and interaction).

• Promote public awareness and encourage participation in sport and recreation through the development of an indoor velodrome community multi-purpose recreation facility in Hamilton.

• Provide advice and input in the development of the future operating plan and governance model for the new velodrome.

Let's hope that Powers remembers his opposition to the Dundas site and argues forcefully against encroaching on the natural lands near Olympic Park.

Representation on the committee is as follows:

• 1 Representative from each of the following sector stakeholder groups:
o Canadian Cycling Association Ontario Cycling Association National Cycling Centre Hamilton Hamilton Cycling Club Hamilton Cycling Committee Youth Serving Agencies Network
• 3 Staff Representatives from City of Hamilton o Sports Tourism/City Pan Am (2) o City of Hamilton Recreation Division (1)
• 3 Representatives from City of Hamilton Council
• 2 community members at large

dundas walks: Chegwin Bridge

2010-11-28T17:38:00.001-05:00

dundas walks: Chegwin Bridge: Monday, November 29 from 10am to 2pm the Royal Botanical Gardens is working on the Chegwin Bridge near McMaster University.

Attention East End '68

2010-10-30T17:10:00.002-04:00

The idea of enhancing the natural assets existing in the east end of Dundas are not new: in fact, in 1968, Dundas Councillor John Prentice put forth a motion after meeting with the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority and Royal Botanical Gardens board members,

"to make Desjardin's Canal and the water in Cootes Paradise navigable for non-power boats, such as canoes. Also recommended was opening up nature trails, eliminating erosion problems by dredging, and general rehabilitation of the whole area.

Included in the plan would be long range objectives such as deepening Spencer Creek, construction of parking space, wilderness areas, upstream projects to reduce erosion.

Councillor Prentice thought action should be taken immediately the recommendations were approved. He said Dundas had control over the area."

Dundas Star December 18, 1968

This area is still ripe for saving from inappropriate developments that would undermine the natural beauty and the ecological integrity of this beautiful land, from Lake JoJo to West Pond, the Desjardin Canal, the Butterfly Gardens, the former green house lands, and the trails to the nearby natural areas.

city cycling committee against the Dundas Velodrome site

2010-10-24T12:13:00.003-04:00

The Hamilton Cycling Committee, a council appointed committee, has this to say about the "Preferred Location for Velodrome" (from July committee minutes) - (which supports what Restore Cootes believes to be best for Cootes, and the city - no velodrome in Dundas in a Environmentally Sensitive Area, and no new taxes to pay for this)

- Support West Harbour location as well as other downtown locations

- Within urban envelope and in vicinity of downtown in order to ensure accessibility to all Hamiltonians

- Limits for consideration would be McMaster (westerly), Ivor Wynne stadium area easterly, water to the north, escarpment to the south (keep it in the lower city)

- The above limits have the best transit service in the whole of the city - which is important.

- Accessibility to highways is important and the downtown is accessible from the highway (there are many ways to get downtown

– there is a misconception that the downtown is not as easily accessed as locations off the new Lincoln Alexander Parkway)

- Schools should be able to take advantage

- Community orientation is important

- A location on the urban fringe will alienate/limit access for poorer people

- There is a psychological barrier for some Hamiltonians who believe the West Harbour area is unsafe; however there is gentrification and a revival occurring in the area and perception is shifting. With time, the group believes this conception will change

- The proposed West Harbour site is the last area in this part of town that is still derelict– the project could help change the West Harbour area for the better if located there

- West Harbour is connected to trails, which is a benefit- West Harbour also provides excellent access to Niagara and Burlington and is near the proposed new GO Station (James St.)

- Proximity to McMaster (but not directly on the campus) would be a good thing - on campus could be a barrier to the broader community

- Ivor Wynne is also a great location which is City owned

- King St. nearby is a preferred route for the new LRT

- Consider other properties along Hwy 403

- in vicinity of King St, Main St or Aberdeen (Kay Drage, etc.)

- A vacant city block downtown, such as the parking lot at Main & Bay would also be a suitable site

Co-Location of the Velodrome with the Stadium and Outdoor Track: (Good & Bad)

- Possible savings from co-location in that it would be possible to share facilities (a hub)

- Synergies from locating in same precinct – e.g. Copps Coliseum, etc. all in same area B Concern that if all three components are built together, the larger facility (football) and its crowds would take over

- Parking and traffic concerns with co-location

- Concern that there would be competition for parking and public transit if events are held at the same time

- Difficulty with three organizations on a single site who will have differing and sometimes conflicting interests, goals, roles – potential for conflict and for the larger facility to win out

- How the velodrome roof will be constructed (material or hard roof) makes a difference to the co-location question; if made of material, increased concerns about noise, vibration from adjacent venues

- Opportunities to fill gaps in athletic programs (e.g. lack of soccer fields)

[See the minutes from the HCC for the rest of the discussion]

What's this? More Velodrome?

2010-10-09T20:55:00.001-04:00

Since Restore Cootes interviewed Dundas councillor Russ Powers, the Velodrome has once again come back from the dead in Dundas. What is going on behind the scenes?
What follows is the relevant excerpt from the October 5 2010 Economic Development and Planning (E.D.P.) minutes:

8.2 Addition of Lands to the Niagara Escarpment Plan - Cootes Paradise Link (PW 176)(PED10228)
Ferguson: [1:36:39] Okay, item 8.2 which is addition of lands to the Niagara Escarpment Cootes Paradise lands. Joanne, do you want to give us an overview of this.
Hickey-Evans: The elevator speech?
Ferguson: Yeah, the elevator speech, thank you.
Hickey-Evans: Just very quickly, the Niagara Escarpment has received an order in council to add additional lands to their portfolio, as it were, their plan area, and it’s a two step process. And now as the second part of the process they’ve identified the appropriate designations for this land, and this land is simply a very small sliver adjacent to Olympic Park and the Hydro building, and it’s all publicly-owned land. And the proposed designations are protection and natural. And by and large we don’t have a problem with the designations, with the exception of two sites. And those two sites relate to our city owned park, which is Olympic – it’s called Olympic Park. It has an arena and several sports fields. And then the second is the Ontario Hydro building including maintenance and storage yard. And we feel that these lands should not be included in the Niagara Escarpment Plan at all. They should just remain within the city’s jurisdiction. And so the recommendation before you is to have these lands removed from the Niagara Escarpment Planning Area. And that we work in conjunction with the province to undertake that. So it’s a fairly complicated regulatory process that we are involved in at this time.
Ferguson: Councillor Pearson
Pearson: Mr Chairman, and I thank for the report there, verbally, and I agree because I was reading through and it could create some problems for us moving into the future, as far as any works that we want to do on facilities on the land, etc. So I report staff’s recommendation.
Ferguson: You’re moving it? Thank you. Seconded by councillor Duvall. Councillor Whitehead.
Whitehead: There is a site for the velodrome, if I remember right, and I can’t remember if this site, this area was identified as one of the sites. So I’m just a bit concerned, that if you do this, that obviously we need to take the site off as potential.
Ferguson: It actually has the opposite effect, because if we take it out of the NEC control then in fact you could put the velodrome

Whitehead: You allow it to happen, okay.
Ferguson: Right, it’s the opposite effect.
Whitehead: Okay, then.
Ferguson: Okay, then further discussion? All in favour? Carried. [1:39:14]

triple fatality and a new name

2010-10-03T10:39:00.003-04:00

We are adding a new feature to the site: historical glimpses of the issues relating to the themes of Restore Cootes.

The dangers of the modern highway become tragically apparent with the first triple fatality on the road (later found to be a result of combining high speed and alcohol consumption);

From the May 26, 1966 Dundas Star News:

"The death of 23-year-old Jerome (Jerry) Fritesh, 196 Caroline St. S. Hamilton last Thursday afternoon...brought the death toll in the fatal car crash on Cootes Drive (Highway 102) to three...."

At the same time, the highway gets a name change to the one we now use: Cootes Drive:

"Two of our major entrances to town have been named, or are in the process of being named. Highway 8 is becoming Osler Drive; Highway 102 is becoming Cootes Drive....These are colorful, historic names for Dundas. They should be put into common use."

New name, same old problems. The contemporary situation reflects the historical:

"In an effort to cut down the speeding in the wake of the increased accident toll in this area" police set up speed radar traps on York Road and Cootes Drive. But, as one citizen caught speeding argues, "the area...[is] more of a highway than anything else. It could be inferred that the speed limit was more than 30 m.p.h."(Dundas Star, August 3, 1966)

emphasis - some places need to remain wild

2010-09-22T23:02:00.000-04:00

"At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of Nature."

H.D.T.

Dundas and the Velodrome

2010-09-22T16:36:00.003-04:00

Russ Powers has confirmed that he does not support a Velodrome at the Dundas site suggested by the National Cycling Centre Hamilton (NCCH).

In a brief phone interview today, Powers said unless directed otherwise by the new council (after October's municipal elections) he was against the Velodrome being built on the soccer field across from the Olympic Arena.

He listed several concerns about that site, which included the proximity to an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA), that it would have to built on the site of a former landfill, and the loss of a recreational soccer pitch.

Powers, who was originally the city representative on the NCCH board of directors in the "early stages" of that organization, is no longer a director (though he was still listed as such on their web site as of today.)

He said the Sierra Group did the site selection criteria for the Pan Am velodrome siting, and did not list potential locations. Sierra was hired by the city of Hamilton.

So no Veldodrome in Dundas.

POWERS that be...

2010-09-18T11:07:00.004-04:00

A constituent of ward 13, AKA Dundas, has shared info with me regarding councillor Russ Powers' position on Olympic Park as a site for the ~~velodrome~~ - it appears that Powers' does not think this is a good place for the Velodrome.

This is a relief for those of us who are concerned with this area abutting Cootes Paradise; naturalizing and capitalizing on the beauty of the area would be a benefit to Dundas and the ecology of the marsh and surrounding lands.

The east end of Dundas has been a dumping ground for years. It's time we reclaim it and bring it back to health. Steps are being made in that direction by the Hamilton Conservation Authority and the Royal Botanical Gardens. We need to make our support for this direction heard.

velo-drone

2010-09-12T11:39:00.002-04:00

It seems the siting of the Velodrome in the east of Dundas, like a slasher film villain, keeps coming back to life.

When the discussion is of building something new, the players never mention any concerns about environment, or alternative visions for the site. This is true of the Velodrome as much as the much debated Pan Am/Tiger-Cats stadium where there is a risk of displacing high-tech research employment lands.

Councillor Russ Powers seems to be siding with the Velodrome/Dundas players.

So while they are looking for a plan that would separate the Velodrome from the Stadium (the two have been linked from the start of planning up to now) they also are looking "to find ways to double the $11.4 million budgeted to build a facility substantial enough to host programs that keep the velodrome sustainable in the long term"

Of course I am interested in ensuring they don't dip into our tax money to pay for a high end facility for a very select few athletes.

"The NCCH has suggested Olympic Park in Dundas as a site but a Sierra Group study offered a short list with that spot, the west harbour, Confederation Park, east Mountain and the airport precinct."

Lots of unanswered questions.

(the quotes above were taken from a Hamilton Spectator article)

Trails on the South Shores of Cootes

2010-08-28T09:57:00.002-04:00

Some Cootes Paradise south shore trails mapped out for you!

Ginger Valley/Ravine Road trail - a commute route!

Caleb's Walk/Sassafras trail - down to the water!

Chegwin Loop - from McMaster University, down to the water on a boardwalk! The description says it touches Grindstone Creek, which it most certainly does not.

You can find more trail maps for Cootes here

DRIVE THROUGH PARADISE: A HISTORY OF COOTES DRIVE

2010-08-25T21:58:00.000-04:00

I had the good fortune to present a history of Cootes Drive to the Dundas Historical Society as part of their 2009 Lecture Series.

I have (finally) uploaded a pdf version of my talk, and added some images from the slides I used in the presentation.

You can read it as a pdf here.

I would love your feedback as well, so feel free to comment, or e-mail me with any thoughts regarding this document.

Again, my appreciation to the Dundas Historical Society board for making the request for this history, which forced my hand, and brought me to an ongoing relationship with the microfiche wheel at the Dundas Public Library.

oil and water

2010-08-24T11:11:00.004-04:00

The Yellow Fish program marks catch basins with the brightly coloured symbol to remind people not to pour contaminants down the drain, since the drain is part of a water collection system that will find it's way into our taps, and in some cases, into nearby bodies of water.
This scene is from McMaster University, in front of the Life Sciences building. You can see the oily water in the puddle.
McMaster University abuts Cootes Paradise, so of course any developments there have a potential (often negative) impact on the natural lands to the North and West of the campus.

A look at paved surfaces at the campus, and any further development that encroaches on Cootes, needs attention. Replacing paved with permeable surfaces would help filter contaminants, and take the burden off the water collection/treatment systems which can be overwhelmed as water collects on paved surfaces before being channeled into these catch basins.

Do you have any concerns relating to Mac and the Environment? Let us know in the comments section!

How many cities have portage points?

2010-08-22T13:04:00.003-04:00

Between Cootes Paradise and the Hamilton Harbour, a few steps are required to get a canoe across by the Desjardins Canal. The juxtaposition of this ancient means of travel with the noisy and polluting traffic roaring past on the 403 highway always makes me imagine how much more beautiful and intact this landscape, this ecology, and our lives might be without such overbearing infrastructure.

behind the scenes of the Velodrome

2010-08-21T14:02:00.001-04:00

A reader of this blog sent the following background to me to share here. There appears to be a very interesting back-story to the ongoing Velodrome siting issue.

- - - -

Regarding your recent web posting “millions more to encroach on Cootes?”, two main points need clarifying. First, you say, “they are still talking about siting it in Dundas”. Actually there is only one person/group calling for this. This is Andrew Iler of the National Cycling Centre Hamilton.

Iler is a politically connected lawyer from Hamilton who is directing a cycling organization created by the corporate right wing lobby. This NCCH is not democratic and is not connected to the cycling community. As well, it has no connection to the city of Hamilton. John Kernaghan and the Hamilton Spectator (Torstar Corporation) have done everything they can to try and legitimize Iler and the so-called National Cycling Centre.

The city of Hamilton and the cycling community want the velodrome in a prominent location with excellent transportation links (West Harbour / Liuna GO station) not out at Dundas.

Jagoda Pike (CEO of Pan Am bid committee / Torstar kingpin) also led the Hamilton Commonwealth Games bid. For that, first she declared there would be no velodrome, then, when she had to include the cycling track she said it would be a temporary facility built in a soccer park in Ancaster. The only thing different this time is she and Iler have substituted Dundas for Ancaster.

The minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting of August 10^th have just been posted to the city of Hamilton’s website.

From this document it does not seem that Iler has reiterated his preference for the Dundas site at this meeting.

By the way, the idea for this velodrome to be based on the Manchester example was all Iler’s. He was told that it was totally impractical but didn’t care. The city of Hamilton commissioned a study for the velodrome from a consultancy group. Council has received the draft report, entitled, “Business Plan for the Development of a Velodrome for the 2015 Pan American Games in the City of Hamilton”.

In the minutes to the Meeting of the Whole it says that this report is attached as Appendix “A” to Report CM10005. It calls for a modest permanent facility (not a tent or a bubble) that could have as few as 500 fixed seats – not Iler’s 3200 seat behemoth.

This leads me to the second point that needs clarifying. As I said, Jagoda Pike first stated that because of the bad economy there would be no Pan Am velodrome, then said that there would be one but it would only receive minimal funding and would have to be put under a temporary cover (air supported or tension fabric structure). The city took the money they were allocated on this basis, added their own share according to the funding formula, and came up with the $11.4 million number.

What’s happened here is that the bid book clearly states that this has to be a permanent facility. The local cycling community has told the city that this will cost at least $21 million (e.g. Wales National Velodrome), and the recently released consultants report backs us up on that.

What Hamilton council has done is vote to give permission for city staff to approach the federal and provincial governments and make them aware of these facts and ask for the extra money. This is not at all the same as cost over-runs at the Montreal Olympic Velodrome, for example.

I attended the city sponsored Pan Am velodrome consultation meeting back in May and have kept in close touch with Diane Lapointe-Kay (Director of Recreation, City of Hamilton). What ultimately happens with this velodrome project I could not say, but it appears that city staff are listening and researching and being responsible with public money. One thing for sure, they are not taking any direction from Andrew Iler and the so-called National Cycling Centre.

I think the city is determined to have this project built at West Harbour. The Committee of the Whole report makes no mention directly of the preferred velodrome site. However, if you contact your local councillor I think they will verify that West Harbour is still Hamilton’s preferred location for the Pan Am velodrome. Thank you for creating awareness of this issue. I share your feelings about Cootes Paradise and commend your efforts.

Chuck Bonnaffon

millions more to encroach on Cootes?

2010-08-10T08:56:00.001-04:00

Is anyone really surprised? Cost estimates for the proposed velodrome for Hamilton's Pan Am games have doubled in price, an extra $15 million. They will be spending up to $25 million dollars for this cycling track, and they are still talking about siting it in Dundas, despite the fact the bid originally stated in would be built along with the Pan Am Stadium (and that's another story!).

Problem is, the site in Dundas is in an area that is close to Cootes Paradise, on a former landfill and in the middle of an area that many hope will be developed as a natural park that will enhance the ecological integrity of this environmentally significant area.

As we are seeing in the wranglings over the Pan Am Stadium, the warning of urban philosopher Jane Jacobs against these kind of projects involving "cataclysmic money" stands today.

We should not hastily make decisions that will have a lasting impact on the quality of our natural assets, especially if we are interested in restoring the ecological conditions already degraded by incompatible developments - in the area of Olympic Drive that would include Olympic Drive, the former landfills, the current waste-transfer station, and now rejected plans like self-storage garages.

Pan Am velodrome would cost extra $15m

John Kernaghan, The Hamilton Spectator, (Aug 10, 2010)

A permanent Pan Am velodrome will cost $10 million to $15 million more than budgeted, a consultant's report says.
The $11.4 million earmarked in the 2015 bid document wouldn't be capable of serving as a national centre and home for international events in the long term, says the Sierra Planning and Management Group.
The report, which is in the shadow of the stadium debate on today's committee of the whole agenda, says it would cost $21.5 million to more than $25 million for a medium quality multipurpose building.
It would combine recreational and high-performance uses and need to be economically sustainable.
Based on the report, city staff is recommending the more expensive velodrome because it would have a longer lifespan and be more attractive for competitive events and recreational programs.
Staff is suggesting the city approach the federal and provincial governments for larger financial contributions and a sponsorship firm be asked to develop a prospectus to sell naming rights and other sponsorship opportunities.
Greg Mathieu, CEO of the Canadian Cycling Association, said the $11.4 million figure in the Pan Am bid book was always seen as unrealistic and the $21.5-million to $25-million velodrome would become a cycling centre for Canada and all of the eastern United States.
The only other 250-metre track, the size needed for world-class events, is in Los Angeles.
Mathieu said a track of that calibre would draw major racing teams and tournaments as well as strong school and recreational projects.
"It would be a magnet for the best riders and the company teams," he added, noting that could lead to possible revenue from sponsorships and signage.
Mathieu added the infield of the track would provide space for court sports, giving the facility plenty of flexibility for city sports programs.
The velodrome is in Pan Am plans for the west harbour site, but the National Cycling Centre Hamilton has been promoting Olympic Park in Dundas.

stepping up the battle for trails

2010-07-16T11:21:00.000-04:00

I share the columnist's (see below) angst about some of the trail closures in Cootes Paradise and the observation that the impacts of walking on habitat are less damaging than driving. Nevertheless, I can appreciate that some of the trails can and should be closed to preserve sensitive habitat.

It is because Cootes is surrounded by a city that the impacts of both cars and yes, even feet, can cumulatively degrade the integrity of this nature sanctuary.

Blocking trails with bushes generally seems to occur on "unofficial" trails, though I have previously expressed my concern with closing trails that once provided access through Cootes to hook up with the Spencer Creek Trail in Dundas. The utility of a trail as a path to someplace, rather than just a recreational loop, means a lot to me, and I have hoped the RBG would reconsider the trails layout with this in mind.

Again, with so many people accessing Cootes, on foot and on mountain-bikes, the threats to the lands are very real. Disturbing wildlife can result in the loss of that wildlife from the area. Loving Cootes too much has the unintended consequence of damaging the place we love.

What I would prefer is a holistic, big-picture accounting of the ways we can expand nature, to remove the real damage caused by development and roads, and therefore make some of these trails viable again in an enlarged habitat. I refer to the cornerstone of this blog's rationale, that conservation isn't enough, we need restoration!

I keep harping on this, but the presence of highway 403 in the east, and Cootes Drive in the west of Cootes pose a huge barrier to ecological integrity, in terms of road noise that carries throughout the entire marsh and diminishes the peacefulness of the area, and especially Cootes Drive, where at risk species and their less threatened neighbours end up as road kill, and animal movement is restricted and dangerous, all in the filled-in, paved-over, former-marsh that extended into the east end of Dundas.

I know that the columnist and I would agree that Cootes is worthy of protection, and enhancement, and that Hamilton is fortunate to have this place in our midst.

Barred from paradise
Changing and closing ancient trails disrupts the natural beauty of RBG lands

Bob Yates
The Hamilton Spectator

(Jul 16, 2010) Cootes Paradise is essentially wild and untouched. This is its beauty and importance to us. It does not require the strict intervention and control the Royal Botanical Gardens employs to manage its splendid tulip and rose gardens. In managing Cootes, "less is more."
Although Cootes Paradise has experienced damage by carp, gypsy moths and garlic mustard, the most threatening foreign invasion into this natural area is now the RBG's new and unnatural management style.
Its current practice of planting trees and bramble bushes on established trails and deliberately littering paths with fallen branches is disruptive to the natural order. It is also negligent because someone could get hurt.
The RBG claim that habitat restoration is its goal, but something beautifully life-enhancing is being threatened with extinction. The traditional trails they are now terminating have been a consistent, unspoiled part of our heritage for two centuries. Foxes, deer and other fellow creatures share with us these gentle ways through the woods.
I have walked the trails around Cootes Paradise for more than 50 years. They have changed very little in that time. Unfortunately, RBG management seems oblivious to the fact that these thin unobtrusive trails are as natural as birds' nests.
To imply these narrow ribbons of packed earth interfere with wildlife is nonsense. Walking the trails around Cootes Paradise does less harm to the woods and marshland than driving a car through Westdale or along Highway 403.
Restrictive fences have recently appeared on the trail to Sassafras Point. They are blights on the wild landscape and are worse eyesores than the inevitable graffiti that will soon cover them. We go to the woods to escape these oppressive phenomena.
The only thing threatened by people walking Cootes's trails is the RBG's experiment in manipulation and control. To remain natural, Cootes Paradise does not need censorship inspired by someone's notion of being a wildlife "expert" (which really is nothing more than personal taste and self-assertion). Closing harmless trails is mean-spirited and ignores the untamed poetry of this special place we need access to.
The RBG claims $20,000 was spent on the trail to Sassafras Point, but the trail itself is exactly as it was before the intervention. The only change is the introduction of oppressive littering, plantings, signs and fences designed to prevent people from comfortably walking alternate ancient paths. Dead trees that were favourite roosting places for hawks and bald eagles have been cut or burned down. RBG efforts would have been better spent restoring the friendly lookout at Kingfisher Point that has fallen into disrepair.
It is a mistake to convert Cootes Paradise into a controlled laboratory experiment. Any scientific knowledge brought to this project is for manipulation, control and transformation rather than an understanding based on acceptance and love.
To understand nature you must see and feel you are part of it. The RBG, with its keep out attitude, offers us the lesson that humans are different from and not part of nature. This is both foolish and false.
I have always loved Cootes Paradise. For those of us who know it, it's among the best places on earth. People can go there and leave it exactly as they found it (except maybe when they're moved to clean up after careless litterers).
These trail closures make RBG management seem similar to those who visit Cootes Paradise to break beer bottles or litter coffee cups. They both wreck it for those who go there to be one with nature. Vandals in the guise of authority are more dangerous than those who litter and break bottles simply because the latter are recognized as "illegal." The RBG destruction defines itself as "legal" and I don't like it.
There must remain places close to heavily populated areas where people can feel a reverence and awe at being an earthling alive on this beautiful earth. It must remain open to us to be free to retreat from man-made rules and tyrannical constructions that belong with cars, pavement and the lack of respect for the environment that we go to the woods to escape.
The RBG has entertained the idea of building a bridge between Princess Point and Sassafras Point (a sure
sign they are unfit to manage this precious land). The point of a point is that it is a point, in isolation. Visitors hike through the woods for half an hour to be at Sassafras Point. Parking their cars at Princess Point, crossing a bridge and being there in half a minute will not give them time to feel the healthy transformation Cootes Paradise can bring to them.
I protest the way the RBG management is now making its presence known in Cootes Paradise. They should direct their efforts to their gardens and parking lots and leave the natural areas alone.
Bob Yates is an artist and writer. He lives in Hamilton's Westdale neighbourhood.

http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/808724

Parks Protect Biodiversity

2010-07-09T14:56:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Parks and Wildlife Service (CPAWS) has released their annual report and the findings, while not surprising, act as a reminder of the importance of limiting development where species at risk are concerned.
The CPAWS report addresses large parks, but the findings are easily transferable to Hamilton's largest urban wildlife reserve in Cootes Paradise.
Wildlife benefit from large uninterrupted natural areas,with roads and other developments being a negative influence, to the point of extirpation for vulnerable species.

The report recommends:

Creating new parks and expanding existing park boundaries;
Maintaining and restoring wildlife movement corridors (so that wildlife have the large ranges they often need);
Restricting roads and other damaging developments;
Limiting recreational activities; and
Practicing good park management focused on healthy ecosystems as a first priority.

We have seen the Royal Botanical Gardens move to limit some recreational activities, but we certainly could use an expanded park boundary (with restoration of lost marsh habitat), and in terms of this blog's purview, "restricting roads and other damaging developments."

[photo - Cootes Paradise from Desjardins Trail at RBG Fish Lift - rk]

walk about vision

2010-07-09T10:21:00.000-04:00

A chance to catch the vision for east Dundas!:

Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan Walk-About
What’s a Walk-About? It’s a tour of the study area to show the public the potential changes to the area when the Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan is implemented. It’s also a great way to get some exercise and see one of Hamilton’s beautiful natural areas that has the potential to be so much more.
The Hamilton Conservation Authority, the City of Hamilton and Royal Botanical Gardens have developed a draft plan for the “Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan”. The plan presents a future vision for natural area preservation and trail linkages along Cootes Drive in Dundas, from McMaster University to Main Street. It also includes a more detailed design plan for King Street East in Dundas, from East Street to Olympic Drive. The detailed design includes a rehabilitation plan for the former Veldhuis Greenhouse site.
Join us if you can, and wear appropriate footwear.

Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 (weather permitting)
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Location: Park at the Public Works / Fire Prevention Station parking lot
189 King St. E., Dundas, ON
More about the plan:
The Hamilton Conservation Authority, the City of Hamilton and Royal Botanical Gardens have developed a draft plan for the “Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan”. The plan presents a future vision for natural area preservation and trail linkages along Cootes Drive in Dundas, from McMaster University to Main Street. It also includes a more detailed design plan for King Street East in Dundas, from East Street to Olympic Drive. The detail design includes a rehabilitation plan for the former Veldhuis Greenhouse site.
Dundas Valley Gateway Study Area
Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan - Page 1 (201.74 kB)
Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan - Page 2 (116.79 kB)
Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan - Page 3 (123.91 kB)
Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan - Page 4 (249.46 kB)
Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan - Page 5 (101.67 kB)
Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan - Page 6 (167.64 kB)
Dundas Eco-Gateway Plan - Page 7 (202.5 kB)
Additional information or questions can be directed to Mr. Steve Miazga, CAO, Hamilton Conservation Authority at 905-525-2181, ext. 110 or smiazga@conservationhamilton.ca
If you would like to comment on the plan, please complete our online survey.

best practices

2010-07-05T23:05:00.001-04:00

The eastern end of Dundas could really use a vision, and this project has it in spades.
The potential for the canal property to be the catalyst for beneficial and transformative changes to this area of town that has been the subject of so much recent controversy.
The philosophy that guides the plan is absolutely what we need more of: restoration of natural habitats.
The only bit of information I would add to the article is the danger the intersection of King and Olympic presents. I've seen some awfully close calls when cars make a left turn onto Olympic here. Closing King would not be a big deal, really. C'mon Hamilton, get over your cars first ideals.

Plans for former greenhouse property move ahead

Fundraising and approval for project are starting now

Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News Staff, Published on Jul 01, 2010

A phase three environmental assessment to determine if soil contamination is leaching into the Desjardins Canal will take place after Hamilton Conservation Authority takes possession of existing buildings on the former Veldhuis Greenhouse property next February.

Conservation Authority administrator Steve Miazga told more than 20 people who attended a public information session about plans for the site north of the canal Wednesday. He said if conservation authority doesn’t have to deal with leaching, there are various options to handle existing contamination, including simply placing soil fill on top of the property.

In the meantime, Miazga said a walkabout will be held at the Veldhuis property at 6:30 p. m. on Wednesday, July 14. Public comments on the plan will be accepted until July 23, with a report and recommendations going to the Aug. 12 conservation area’s advisory board meeting. If approved there, the plan goes to the conservation authority board for approval. The next effort revolves around fundraising to make the detailed project a reality.

“This plan, quite frankly, is not budgeted for in any agency’s budget,” Miazga said.

The authority does not know how much money will be needed for the project. Cost estimates aren’t expected until after the phase three environmental assessment next year.

“It’s a challenging project, but it’s one that must be done,” Miazga said.

He agreed with Tys Theysmeyer, head of conservation at project partner Royal Botanical Gardens, that the plan is needed to make the Veldhuis site a public buffer between an urban area and a natural preservation area.

Joe Berridge, of the planning firm Urban Strategies, was hired by the conservation authority to create short-and long-term site plans for the Veldhuis property.

Berridge and his firm were also responsible for the Urban Eco Park report commissioned by local residents Ben Vanderbrug, Joanna Chapman and Brian Baetz as an option to a proposed storage facility at 201 King St. E., across from Veldhuis.

Berridge told those gathered at last week’s meeting the former greenhouse property is a major public junction of several important natural lands. It will provide a central connection to various walking paths and bike routes – including several new links included in the proposed site plan.

Berridge said part of the plan’s goal is to formalize paths so people don’t “ramble” through natural areas – destroying sections that should be preserved.

“Keep it simple,” he said of the site plan’s goal. “It’s a re-naturalization. (But) we’re going to give Mother Nature a bit of hand.”

One element of the short-and long-term plans includes placing islands in the Desjardins Canal made of plants that will soak up nutrients that create algae in the water. Berridge said some will be made on an experimental basis, and more could be added.

The short-term plan includes keeping the easterly stretch of King Street East open to traffic, but the long-term plan suggests closing it.

“In the long run, we think it’s a good idea to explore closing King Street,” Berridge said. “There are some important turtle nesting areas. There are pros and cons. It’s an idea we should keep in mind in the long term if it makes sense.”

He suggested keeping King Street East open would help provide informal surveillance of the natural public space and also permit on-street parking. Closing the road would also increase the cost of the project.

City of Hamilton staff has provided comments opposing the closure of the small stretch of King Street East.

But Berridge also suggested that piece of road is redundant and not necessary, and it’s a problem for turtles travelling across to nesting areas. He said closure of the road could also allow a future combination with the property at 201 King St. E.

When it was suggested a pathway in the plan might be located too close to the canal, potentially spooking rare waterfowl, Berridge suggested closer is better.

“Where the trail is 20 feet from the water’s edge, people beat a path along the edge,” he said. “If you don’t have one, you’ll have it anyway.”

Berridge said much of the planning requires managing human behaviour within a natural area, and giving people places they can go.

Miazga said there is ongoing discussion around timelines for the short and long term — and whether or not to keep two separate site plans.

“Should we even have short and long term, or should we make the decision to pursue the ultimate,” Miazga said.

The Dundas Eco-Gateway plan is available at the Hamilton Conservation Authority website at: www.conservationhamilton.ca

http://www.dundasstarnews.com/news/article/214222

work for free: free nature!

2010-07-02T15:45:00.000-04:00

Get involved in helping to protect and care for land in your community

Come help us

protect natural areas
restore habitat
build and maintain trails

Get outside * Meet new people * Learn about nature and why it matters * Join in the spirit and reward of doing important work!

Volunteer with the Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust program!

Whether you're interested in exploring the magnificent natural areas in our region, or you're a "people person" with keen planning and organization skills, the Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust program has a volunteer position with your name on it.

Several kinds of volunteer opportunities with the HLT program are available, including caring for the nature sanctuaries, helping with special events, fundraising, and communications. Or tell us about your ideas or skills and we can work with you to create ways for you to help.

To find out more about volunteering with the HLT program, please contact Jen Baker at 905.524.3339 or land@hamiltonnature.org.

The Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust (HLT) is a volunteer-driven program of the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club. It is a registered charitable organization dedicated to the permanent protection of lands in Hamilton, Burlington and surrounding areas. The HNC, formed in 1919, is a volunteer-based, charitable organization with almost 700 members that protect nature and promote public awareness and appreciation of the natural environment.

________________

Jen Baker

Land Trust Coordinator

Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program

Hamilton Naturalists' Club

Tel: 905-524-3339

Email: land@hamiltonnature.org

Website: www.hamiltonnature.org

For Nature, Forever

NATURE WIN!

2010-06-16T21:04:00.000-04:00

Very welcome news for Cootes Paradise!

Public wins Pleasantview fight

Jun 16, 2010

The city and local residents have successfully preserved the Pleasantview area of Dundas from urban development. The provincial government has now refused a developer-sought amendment to the Parkway Belt West plan and is tranferring the rural Dundas lands to the protection of the Niagara Escarpment Commission.
A June 2 provincial cabinet decision signed by the Minister of Natural Resources Linda Jeffrey adds the Pleasantview lands and five other parcels in other parts of Ontario to the Niagara Escarpment Planning Area. The shift takes effect on July 1 and affects “the lands lying west of the westerly limit of King’s Highway No. 6 and north of the northerly limit of King’s Highway 403 to the easterly limits of Olympic Drive and the northerly limits of Cootes Drive” between those boundaries and the current escarpment plan area.
Tim McCabe, the city’s head of economic development and planning alerted councillors yesterday he’d been informed that “the minister has issued a final refusal” on the developer-sought amendment, and that the developers have been so informed.
“So that went out to Ed Fothergill and the owners out there,” announced McCabe, referring to the former president of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce who has been acting on behalf of Mattwood Homes.
Last year, provincial officials sought the city’s comments on the developer amendment application that sought to permit 760 residential units on 60 hectares along York Road. In response, city planning staff advised council to recommend delay of a decision.
That position was approved by a sharply divided planning committee, but subsequently overturned by council and replaced with a motion fully opposing the development and reiterating a 2007 city recommendation that the lands be added to the escarpment plan. Development was also opposed by Conservation Halton, by staff at the Ministry of Natural Resources, and by many local residents.
A report prepared in December by ministry staff noted the receipt of “101 comments from the public, all opposed to the proposed Parkway Belt West Plan amendment.” It went on to list reasons given by the residents.
“The public comments advised the application should be refused given that the area is environmentally significant; the proposed use would have negative impacts on the wildlife habitat of the area; the proposal would affect the watershed into Cootes Paradise; the proposal contradicts the 1995 OMB decision; the area provides a natural corridor between Cootes Paradise and the Niagara Escarpment; the proposal contradicts the Greenbelt Plan; the current infrastructure can not support development; the amendment contradicts the PBWP policy 6.2.3 (n); the site is surrounded by significant features such as Cootes Paradise, Hamilton Conservation Authority lands, Royal Botanical Gardens lands, and Conservation Halton lands; and that the proposal is not in keeping with the low density character of the area.”
Ministry staff concluded that the amendment did not conform with the Greenbelt Plan, the provincial growth plan and the Provincial Policy Statement, and also was “contrary to the city of Hamilton’s long-term preferred growth option” and its new official plan.
The defeat for the developers comes 15 years after a 1995 decision of the Ontario Municipal Board that limited new building on the lands to one unit for each 10 hectares. That came out of an appeal by Dundas residents led by the Conserver Society, but didn’t bring a final stop to the development plans.

BEWARE: HOGWEED GIANT ON THE LOOSE!

2010-06-16T09:09:00.000-04:00

If you are scratching your head while leafing through your wild plant guide, don't be worried if you can't find mention of this one.

It seems Dundas has been invaded by a plant, originally from Asia, called Giant Hogweed. As with many non-native plants, they can often spread quickly with no natural predators to keep them in check, but this plant is different: "its sap can leave burns that last for up to six years" when exposed to sunlight.

The local daily reports that City workers are applying herbicides to control the spread. So far they have found

six along Spencer Creek near Cootes Drive.
15 in Warren Park
a couple of plants on Old Guelph Road.

"It seems to be travelling up the creek bed," said Sue Gilpin, a city superintendent."

If you find some on city property, call 905-546-CITY to report it

plenty of life in the layers

2010-06-09T08:47:00.000-04:00

Dig this ... ancient riverbed
Archeologists stumble on find

Jenni Dunning, The Hamilton Spectator, (Jun 9, 2010)

Underneath an old lilac garden, researchers have found an ancient riverbed which the area's earliest residents may have called home.
McMaster University archeology students recently uncovered a riverbed -- 10,000 to 30,000 years old -- on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Cootes Paradise, said the group's instructor Meghan Burchell. "It's sheer blind luck. It was a random sampling," she said.
"People don't know there's so much archeology in Hamilton. This is really a living landscape."
The team discovered traces of a deteriorated wood post along the river's edge -- the first evidence of a clear structure, now buried about 25 centimetres underground, Burchell said.
It's likely the remains of a trap or drying rack for fish, she added.
Researchers hope to use a ground penetrating radar in the next couple of months to figure out the riverbed's exact size and boundaries.
The crew of about 15 students and instructors also found a military button, trading beads, decorated pottery and stone tools.
Most of the artifacts, found strewn across the 150-square-metre area, are at least 1,500 years old, Burchell said.
A few of the artifacts are 3,000 years old, she added.
The site could be older, which will be determined by further research, Burchell said.
"Turns out, this site is massive. What we thought was a stop-over place could be much more significant."
Natives lived in that area at least 3,000 years ago, Burchell said.
All the initial data will be sent to the Ministry of Culture and the archeologists can resume digging at this time next year.
The McMaster students were at the site for the last six weeks, ending yesterday, as part of an annual dig in its third year hosted by the Royal Botanical Gardens.

To students, it's known as field school -- a chance to put theory lessons aside and get hands-on experience.
This year, they concentrated on a plot of land farmed 75 years ago before the RBG made it into a lilac garden.
This is the first time they've found structural artifacts.
"I didn't know much about the area before field school. (Now) I'm emotionally attached," said Elizabeth Ouellette, a third-year Mac archeology student at the dig.
"There's a much richer history in this area than I ever would have thought."
Officials at the RBG aren't surprised by the find.
It's flat land, surrounded by rocky, steep hills, with plenty of hunting and fishing available. It's also a stop for migratory birds, said Tys Theysmeyer, head of conservation at the RBG.
"That's why people lived here. It's the crossroads of life," he said. "It's an example of one of the remarkable mysteries in (Cootes)."

jdunning@thespec.com
905-526-3368

THE NUMBERS
3 -- Years McMaster archeologists have studied the land around the riverbed discovery
11 -- Registered archeological sites in the RBG
1,000 -- Registered archeological sites in Hamilton
1,500 -- In years, the age of most artifacts found around the riverbed
3,000 -- In years, how long ago natives lived in the area
10,000-30,000 -- In years, the age of the riverbed

reason to expand natural areas: eagles!

2010-06-08T09:03:00.000-04:00

Photo Courtesy of Jamie Smith

Bald eagles at Cootes are a rare pair

At-risk species making a comeback in area landscape

Jenni Dunning
The Hamilton Spectator

(Jun 7, 2010)

A pair of bald eagles is sticking around Hamilton for a third summer, a sign the area's natural lands are improving, experts say.
If the birds breed, that would make them the first mating pair of bald eagles on Lake Ontario in 50 years.
Their presence in Cootes Paradise, along with growing numbers of at-risk species making a comeback, is encouraging for local conservationists.
"One of the main things it means is we're doing something right," said Lee Oliver, communications manager at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
"We're trying to bring back an ecological balance."
Along with the two bald eagles, there are nine or 10 male Blanding's turtles, which look similar to tortoises and are very rare, Oliver said.
"It's like a bad party -- we haven't been able to find a female yet," he said.
It's not just animals that have returned. Plant life has made a comeback as well.
For example, the few-flowered club-rush is a grass-like plant that has only existed in Cootes since 2001, Oliver said. It was in Toronto's Rouge Park before that.
The RBG also burns invasive grass species to allow later-blooming native grasses to grow instead, and it diverts invasive giant goldfish carp back into Lake Ontario.
These changes are mainly credited to the RBG's Project Paradise, an effort to preserve its natural lands and nature sanctuaries, including Cootes, during about the last 10 years, Oliver said.
As for the bald eagles, it appears as though they've made a tall pine tree on Lake Ontario's north shore their home -- and tried to make another nest on the south shore near McMaster University.
They likely won't have eaglets until next season because one of them is too young, said Tys Theysmeyer, head of conservation at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
"Eventually we'll have little ones," he said, adding their mating season is in March.
Though the older bird has matured enough to show its white head and tail, the other is "splotchy," he said.
The fact that they're sticking around Cootes Paradise is "quite a phenomenon for this area," said Jim Quinn, McMaster biology professor and ornithologist.
He said youth is just one of the possible reasons why they haven't yet had eaglets. Others could be that they are laying infertile eggs or they're exploring the area first.
jdunning@thespec.com
905-526-3368

No plan for this place?

2010-06-04T11:00:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, Restore Cootes was asking "How well thought out is this plan?" to put a Velodrome on Olympic Park. The question was mostly rhetorical, and our concern is borne out in this latest news from the Dundas Star.

Zoning and soil do not support velodrome at Olympic Park, say city, RBG officials

Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News Staff

Published on Jun 03, 2010

Olympic Sports Park is on top of a former landfill and not capable of supporting a building, according to one conservation expert.

City of Hamilton planning staff would not elaborate on the comment made by Tys Theysmeyer, head of conservation and natural lands for the Royal Botanical Gardens, which owns property not far from the Olympic Drive natural area. But according to the city’s planning department, the property’s zoning only permits outdoor recreation.

The National Cycling Centre of Hamilton says a feasibility study it completed on building a cycling velodrome in the city concluded the Dundas park, currently home to soccer fields and a baseball diamond, is the best possible location for such a facility.

Now the NCC is suggesting the City of Hamilton relocate a Pan Am velodrome from its planned location next to a stadium at the west harbour to the Olympic Drive site.

“Number one, the area is a landfill and thus not capable of supporting a building as is,” Theysmeyer said. “Aside from that, there would be a collection of standard topics for discussion relating to site design, lighting, building footprint, traffic patterns, stormwater management and sensitive species.”

There is currently no official proposal or application to actually put a velodrome or anything else on the Olympic Drive site.

Tourism Hamilton’s David Adames has previously noted Pan Am organizers have chosen a velodrome site, and a very convincing rationale would have to come forward to change the plan.

Meanwhile, the Hamilton Conservation Authority has no information on the Olympic Drive property itself, and watershed officer Darren Kenny said the HCA only has regulatory authority over the southwest portion of the property.

“The regulated area corresponds to the erosion hazard associated with the steep ravine banks along Lake Jojo. We have no floodplain identified with this property,” Kenny said.

Community park zoning Although NCC chair Andrew Iler and other supporters of a velodrome at Olympic Park suggest the property is zoned recreational and would not need to be changed for an indoor cycling facility, city planning department spokesperson Debbie Spence said the property actually has a community park zoning, with a permitted passive recreation use.

The zoning only allows “activities that involve relatively unorganized recreational pursuits, generally in the outdoors, such as walking, sitting and picnicking.”

In addition, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment would require an environmental assessment and record of site condition before the existing land use at the park were to change.

Isolation or built into the fabric of a city?

2010-05-23T17:49:00.000-04:00

Is Dundas more of a "cycling town" than Hamilton? Not sure I'd buy that, but regardless of the designation, the idea that NCC's Andrew Iler puts forth that "the Dundas location does not create barriers to use that exist at the planned west Harbour site" is very arguable.

His reason against the west harbour site:

“An urban core deadlocked by big urban streets is not ideal,” he said.

We see, I suspect, a suburban bias in this decision from the NCC. How else does an urban core become a liability? It means being closer to more potential users of the facility, based on urban density, with decent public transit available.

Other benefits of an urban location would be spinoff improvements to the "big urban streets" that could then sport bike lanes and wider sidewalks and the development of other urban commercial, retail and other amenities. Same can't be said for the Dundas site which is isolated and accessible primarily, if not exclusively, by car. It will be drive in, drive out.

We mustn't forget that the original proposal for the stadium/velodrome had them together to save money. Why aren't we talking about that?

A plan perhaps?

Restore Cootes is interested in seeing the east end of Dundas developed as an ecologically enhanced and protected area, building on the existing natural strengths. The area needs a plan, not big projects thrown in without thought or community input.

As we have heard previously:

"What is needed for this entire area is a broader vision that can direct urban growth and development in ways that enhance its unique natural setting.

The vision encompassing this area would involve

"Creation of the urban eco-park and establishing a clear future for the lands between Cootes Paradise and the escarpment are decisions commensurate with the significance of the creation of the Niagara Escarpment Commission or Rouge Park (connecting the Oak Ridges Moraine north of Toronto to Lake Ontario)."

Cycling organization says Dundas would support velodrome
Olympic Park suggested for facility
Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News Staff
Published on May 20, 2010

An organization suggesting the relocation of the Pan Am Games velodrome to Dundas’ Olympic Park believes residents would support the new facility.

But a couple of readers contacted the Dundas Star News early this week with concerns about the impacts on the environment, traffic and youth soccer fields if a recommendation from the National Cycling Centre Hamilton convinces the City of Hamilton to relocate the indoor cycling facility from the planned west Harbour site to Dundas.

The site, across from Westoby Ice Surface, is located within an environmentally significant area and is part of the Cootes to Escarpment land management strategy.

It’s not clear whether the organization’s study pointing to the Valley Town as the best home for the velodrome will even be considered by the city.

But community members will apparently have an opportunity to participate in a consultation process.

Tourism Hamilton executive director David Adames acknowledged the NCC’s belief that Olympic Drive would provide a more sustainable home for the velodrome than the west harbour, but stated Hamilton city council has already approved a site and included it in the Pan Am bid book.

Adames said the city has started a business planning process for the velodrome, which will include meeting with the Canadian Cycling Association, Ontario Cycling Association, Hamilton Cycling Committee, National Cycling Committee and the community. But he did not say whether the facility’s location is up for discussion.

“It must be developed as a multi-purpose venue for sustainability reasons, so there is much work to be done and I think there will be different views about location during the consultation phase,” Adames said.

Andrew Iler, president of the NCC Hamilton, said the organization began a feasibility study for a Hamilton velodrome before the local Pan Am bid was made, and concluded the Olympic Drive site is by far the best suited location in the city. The study was apparently conducted completely independently from the city’s own search for a Pan Am velodrome and stadium location.

Iler said the Dundas location does not create barriers to use that exist at the planned west Harbour site.

“An urban core deadlocked by big urban streets is not ideal,” he said.

Instead, he suggested, the Olympic Drive site provides direct access to one of the area’s most popular cycling routes, and is within Hamilton’s strongest cycling community.

“It’s a cycling town,” Iler said. “Dundas will support it more than other communities would.”

Because the NCC’s preferred location, across from Westoby Ice Surface, is now home to soccer fields, Iler said replacement space for local users would have to be found.

“We don’t want to displace any organizations without having viable alternatives,” he said.

Dundas Youth Soccer Club secretary Duncan McIntosh said the organization’s president supports new recreation facilities in Dundas, as long as the soccer fields are replaced.

McIntosh noted Hamilton is already short 19 soccer fields, according to a consultant’s report to the city.

“So the loss of Olympic field number one would be devastating to local soccer,” he said.

Iler said his group visited velodromes in Pennsylvania and Manchester, England, to learn what made them successful, then developed a plan for what would be needed at the Hamilton velodrome, before considering location as the final step.

“I think the city has done it backwards so far. They looked for the location then what’s important for the facilities,” Iler said.

footpath or cycle path?

2010-05-16T10:05:00.000-04:00

"The NCCH believes the Dundas site would best serve three of the four cycling disciplines as it is close to road cycling routes and mountain biking trails."
What trails are they referring to? RBG trails? Bruce Trail? Neither of which are open for cycling, being footpaths in naturally sensitive areas? Or do they consider Dundas Valley trails close? How well thought out is this plan?

Cycling centre rejects harbour

John Kernaghan, The Hamilton Spectator, (May 13, 2010)

Hamilton's cycling centre has joined the Tiger-Cats in rejecting the west harbour. But unlike the Ticats, the centre has firmly identified another Pan Am Games location.

Andrew Iler, president of the National Cycling Centre Hamilton (NCCH), said almost four years of study have led the centre's board to conclude Olympic Park in Dundas would provide the best chance for the cycling track to be sustainable in the long term.

"We've invested substantial human and financial capital and called on experts to develop a business plan for a successful velodrome for Hamilton," Iler said.

That plan does not fit the west harbour site due to accessibility issues, a long-term position of the NCCH, he noted.

"West harbour met very few of our criteria set out after an exhaustive study."

The cycling centre head said he felt it was important to take his group's reservations public.

"We've worked hard with the city and Pan Am (organizers) to collaborate on a facility. We've put our points forward and they haven't been heard."

Iler said there was some consideration of other sites by the city but only west harbour is on the table.

However, its board feels shifting the proposed velodrome may open up parking options to help the Ticats and the city get closer to a resolution at the Bay and Barton streets site.

He added, "The NCCH feels that by locating the velodrome in an alternative location that the issue of adequate parking for the stadium can be resolved."

The proposal comes as the city headed to a mediation process with the Ticats.

The football team's owner, Bob Young, has cited accessibility, visibility and parking problems as reasons for his rejection of the west harbour location.

The 2.4 hectares the velodrome would occupy could produce between 600 and 750 parking spots.

Only 600 spots are in the city's plans for the area.

"We're looking at a holistic plan for Hamilton's part in the Pan Ams," Iler pointed out.

The city's Pan Am spokesperson, David Adames, said the city and the Tiger-Cats have agreed not to comment on the stadium issue as they approach mediation.

Tiger-Cats president Scott Mitchell also declined to comment.

Iler stressed Olympic Park, playing fields across from an ice rink on Olympic Drive off Cootes Drive, is owned by the city and is not complicated by buildings or regulatory restrictions.

The NCCH believes the Dundas site would best serve three of the four cycling disciplines as it is close to road cycling routes and mountain biking trails.

That would intensify use of the velodrome by elite and recreational riders, would be safer to access for cyclists and provide a business model that could spare the city long-term subsidies, Iler said.

The Games budget for the cycling venue is $11.4 million, which would provide a stripped-down facility.

The cycling centre has been campaigning for more public and private sector funds to create a more substantial velodrome.

http://thespec.com/article/768558

Rationale for Velodrome Site Hits the wall

2010-05-16T09:50:00.000-04:00

Early rationale (Nov. 1/08) for siting the velodrome in Hamilton:

"He said that local expertise and the efficiency of shared facilities at a stadium/velodrome were the underlying logic to the twinning.

He pointed to office space, athletes services and sportsmedicine expertise that could be shared if cycling, track and field, soccer and football were located together."

Pan Am velodrome? Local bid organizers pitch cycling centre for 2015 games

John Kernaghan
The Hamilton Spectator

(Nov 1, 2008)
Hamilton's 2015 Pan Am Games wish list is growing longer with a cycling velodrome that would be twinned with a stadium.

A 3,000- to 5,000-seat indoor facility costing about $20 million could make Steeltown the big wheel of track events in eastern Canada and the United States.

Tourism Hamilton's David Adames said he expects a feasibility study to conclude erecting Canada's only international standard track will also provide lots of opportunities for recreational athletes.

Adames, who is the city's contact with the provincial Pan Am secretariat, said the velodrome makes sense in light of the National Cycling Centre at McMaster, a legacy of the 2003 Road World Cycling Championships.

He said that local expertise and the efficiency of shared facilities at a stadium/velodrome were the underlying logic to the twinning.

He pointed to office space, athletes services and sportsmedicine expertise that could be shared if cycling, track and field, soccer and football were located together.

Andrew Iler, president of the cycling centre at Mac, believes a feasibility study/business plan expected soon will support a velodrome to both produce world-class athletes and provide recreational opportunities.

"It's important any facility maximize community use, so it would have to be open to everyone, and the infield would be available for basketball, volleyball, badminton and floor hockey, activities that wouldn't disturb cyclists."

Iler pointed to London, Ontario's Forest City Velodrome, which attracts recreational riders from Detroit to Toronto.

But that facility is not suitable for the Pan Ams or a world championship. None in Canada is.

Rob Jones, editor of canadian-cyclist.com, said a velodrome with an BMX site alongside would really maximize community use.

"And as the Brits have shown lately, at the highest level, when you get a cross-pollination of track, road and BMX, you can win a lot of Olympic medals."

He said Manchester's velodrome has spawned several Olympic champs.

The velodrome could be on the table when Adames lays out the status of Hamilton's Games' proposal to city councillors Nov. 10.

In addition to a 30,000-seat stadium, Hamilton has already identified improvements to Copps Coliseum and upgrades to McMaster facilities in its wish list.

Toronto 2015, as the southern Ontario bid is called, will have to sift through the wishes of a dozen municipalities to identify which new facilities are needed and where they should go.

That needs to be sorted out by April, when the 2015 bid book will be presented to the Pan American Sports Association.

The Pan Am Games consists of 42 member countries and 28 sports.

The vote to name the 2015 host will come next fall after the site of the 2016 Olympics is announced. Lima, Peru and Bogota, Colombia are also bidding for the Pan Ams.

jkernaghan@thespec.com

905-526-3422

http://thespec.com/article/459357

no place for no plan

2010-05-15T17:30:00.000-04:00

The East end of Dundas has had a beautiful and sustainable vision presented as a possible future, but people keep lobbing new and incompatible projects into the area. Will we really want more parking lots in the area of the historical Desjardin's Canal, and Cootes Paradise/West Pond and Royal Botanical Gardens land for this Velodrome?

"Who's going to argue with that"? I guess me, for one...

Dundas velodrome has support 2 councillors like idea

John Kernaghan, The Hamilton Spectator, (May 15, 2010)

A proposal to move the Pan Am velodrome to Dundas has provisional backing by two city councillors.

Terry Whitehead and Russ Powers say the idea of shifting the $11.4-million indoor cycling track could help resolve the dispute with the Ticats over the city's west harbour site.

Meantime, a Dundas soccer official was surprised to read the area could lose a playing field at Olympic Park to the velodrome.

Whitehead and Powers agreed the body that wants the move, the National Cycling Centre Hamilton (NCCH), has done its homework in coming up with ways to make the facility sustainable.

NCCH head Andrew Iler said the cycling centre board could find few positives in a facility at the west harbour.

"They have spent over $100,000 on studying how to maximize use of the facility," said Whitehead.

In fact, he noted the NCCH has done much more detailed analysis than the Tiger-Cats have of stadium locations.

"It's been two years and the Tiger-Cats haven't come up with alternatives."

Whitehead agreed with Iler's idea of moving the velodrome to free up about 2.4 hectares in the west harbour for parking to satisfy one of the Tiger-Cats complaints about the location.

He cautioned that part of Olympic Park is on a landfill site that would require testing and analysis.

Powers said the 2.4 hectares the velodrome move would yield might be put to better use while the cycling community could concentrate track, road and mountain biking training more easily in Dundas.

The Dundas area councillor, who studied the national cycling centre in Manchester, England, believes Hamilton could take some aspects of that model and create an economically-sustainable velodrome through school, recreation and elite programs.

But he noted the city is about to pick a consultant to provide its own business plan for the velodrome at west harbour.

Powers called for that back in February when the Bay and Barton streets site was approved for Pan Am facilities.

It is due in July and, he pointed out, might confirm another use for the west harbour velodrome site.

John Gardiner, president of the Dundas Youth Soccer Club, said losing a field at Olympic Park would hurt a sport already desperate for fields.

"Hamilton and District is short by 19 fields."

But he said speaking as a resident, if a field could be found elsewhere, he'd welcome a sports gem like a velodrome to the community.

"Who's going to argue with that?"

longnose return to cootes

2010-05-07T10:12:00.000-04:00

some good signs from the fish barrier...

Kaz Novak, the Hamilton Spectator

No crocs at Cootes
But American eel and longnose gar mark two firsts

Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator

(May 7, 2010)
An American eel and longnose gar mark two firsts at the Cootes Paradise Fishway this spring, but Royal Botanical Gardens staff report no sightings of either crocodiles or alligators.

Tys Theysmeyer, head of conservation at the RBG, said the eel, an endangered species once abundant in Lake Ontario, is the first caught since 1997, when the fishway began operating to keep destructive carp out of the Cootes marsh at the far west end of Lake Ontario.

He said it might be one of 144,000 released into the St. Lawrence River in a 2006 restocking effort. Eels are small enough to swim through the fish barrier, so it was just chance it was caught in one of the steel baskets used to sort carp from desirable species allowed into Cootes to spawn.

Longnose gar is a large, primitive predator species with an elongated snout and many large teeth. Young males have turned up at the barrier before, but the recent catch was the first female and the first big gar, 1.2 metres long. Theysmeyer said they can grow to 2 metres.

"They are a normal, big, wetland predator fish historically wiped out in Cootes Paradise, but they have hung out in warm water near the steel mills in the harbour, where the Hamilton Naturalists' Club once counted more than 200."

A heavy rain in March submerged the fishway, giving carp a brief free pass into Cootes, but Theysmeyer said few appear to have taken advantage, so the marsh remains largely free of the invasive fish that uproot plants and stir up mud, making the water murky.

He reports the water level in Cootes is down half a metre from last spring's near-record high.

"It's no fun if you're a fish," but it could give a big boost to Project Paradise's efforts to restore vegetation to the wetland.

Instead of planting seedlings as it's done for years, this summer the RBG is fencing off mud flats near the mouth of Spencer Creek, hoping seeds will germinate and grow in much larger numbers than could be planted. The fences are to keep Canada geese from munching on the sprouts.

Theysmeyer said: "The water hasn't been this low in the spring since 1961 and has approached this level only twice since, most recently in 1999, so we've changed our approach to plant regeneration.

"We're focusing on protecting seedlings. There are about 10 hectares of bare mud at the creek mouth now and if we get plants growing on even seven, it would make a dramatic change in the appearance of the marsh. It would also help rebuild as much as half a kilometre of the creek channel. It would make the marsh much more interesting for fish and people."

emcguinness@thespec.com

905-526-4650

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/764918

finding earth beneath the asphalt

2010-05-05T00:07:00.000-04:00

The former Central Park elementary school ground in Dundas has been undergoing some positive alterations to its play areas, with the removal of some asphalt to create space for nature (in this case, trees).

Restoration like this helps us reconnect with the earth, and just as importantly, allows the earth to restore the connection to natural life cycles - rain can be absorbed into the earth, trees do their oxygen thing, and children at this now Montessori school get a better understanding of the connectedness that underlies our ability to thrive on this planet.

Do you know of a place that has removed pavement to make room for nature in this area? Do you want to get help to depave some property? Please get in touch with us!

survivor

2010-04-16T16:47:00.000-04:00

A patch of scorched earth at Princess Point, Hamilton ON, after a prescribed controlled burn conducted for the Royal Botanical Gardens. The annual fire helps native plant life gain a foothold over invasive species, fire being a natural part of the ecosystem that now needs human intervention to strike the match of regeneration.

I found it strangely beautiful, the scent of the old fire and the way the earth looked alive in a new way.

Photo by Bronwyn Kay

Fish First!

2010-04-16T10:31:00.000-04:00

Very welcome news for Spencer Creek - it will be interesting to watch these man-made barriers to fish removed and rehabilitated as they move west upstream.

Breaking down barriers for fish
Project to ease creek passage should result in greater number, variety

Eric McGuinness, The Hamilton Spectator, DUNDAS (Apr 16, 2010)

Rainbow trout and salmon that now can reach only the downstream edge of downtown Dundas may one day be able to swim all the way up Spencer Creek to Webster's Falls.

Tys Theysmeyer of the Royal Botanical Gardens believes that will be possible once nine barriers to fish passage are removed.

The first to go -- early this fall -- is a steel wall that acts like a fish fence across the creek under the bridge carrying Osler Drive over the fast-moving water.

The project is significant because experts say it will increase the number and variety of fish in Hamilton Harbour and western Lake Ontario, and because the need was identified by a multi-agency committee set up to find ways to restore Spencer in the wake of the 2007 Biedermann Packaging fire.

Hot, pesticide-laced firefighting water poured into the creek, temporarily wiping out fish, insects and other life downstream of the Head Street industrial zone. Most species have since returned to their former abundance.

Art Timmerman, who works for Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, said yesterday a screening process ruled out the need for an environmental assessment of the Osler Drive work that will replace the vertical wall with a rocky ramp for less than $50,000.

An assessment involving public consultation will soon begin to look at eight other dams, debris jams and artificial channels upstream of the old cotton-mill site at Osler Drive.

Shari Faulkenham, ecologist for the Hamilton Conservation Authority, said the barrier there was created when the bridge was built in the mid-1960s with vertical concrete walls on either side of the 12-metre-wide channel. Two parallel rows of steel piling were planted across the creek bed -- no one involved now knows why -- stopping fish from swimming very far upstream from the Cootes Paradise marsh at the west end of the harbour.

While trout and salmon are the most valued species, many others, including white sucker, are expected to take advantage.

Faulkenham said: "Ultimately, we are aiming for passage of the weakest swimming species, which is typically white sucker in a system like Spencer Creek. This goal will allow most fish to navigate the barrier that are seeking their particular habitat niche to carry out all or part of their life cycles upstream."

Faulkenham said trout and salmon will seek spawning sites. Providing access to all fish makes sure there are smaller fish to feed big ones, producing more fish overall.

photo: Gary Yokoyama, The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/article/753813

Hip waders and waist deep in glory!

2010-04-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

An excellent turn-out in primo spring weather for the Volunteer Marsh litter clean-up today.
A group of Katimavik youth began their clean-up by prying a long-dumped couch out of the soggy banks of the marsh, while McMaster students from the Biodiversity Guild waded into the deeper waters of the marsh to pull out everything from fire-extinguishers (five of them!) to rusted paint cans and more.

Families from Dundas also joined the fray, and with the assistance of Steve and Ron with their trucks, moving the long-stashed garbage and recyclables to the end of the lane where city workers will remove to the waste transfer station on Monday was a breeze.

Special thanks to Joanna Chapman and the office of Russ Powers for supplying bags and gloves.

Random catches:

40 people helped
2 hours
Well over 50 bags of garbage removed, plus recycling and household hazardous waste
19 Car tires
5 fire extinguishers
1 microwave
1 pregnancy tester
various furniture

Photos by Bronwyn Kay

clear for cleaning

2010-04-09T10:08:00.000-04:00

Forecast for Saturday's Marsh litter clean-up is:

Sunny. Increasing cloudiness in the evening. Wind becoming southwest 30 km/h late in the morning. High 10.

Looking good.

Here's the poster:

Burn Postponed

2010-04-06T09:43:00.000-04:00

Targets invasive species near Cootes

April 06, 2010

The Hamilton Spectator
(Apr 6, 2010)

Mother Nature has rained on The Royal Botanical Gardens' plan to burn off unwanted invasive plants at three locations around Cootes Paradise today.

Prescribed burns were to have taken along York Boulevard between Old Guelph Road and the Rock Garden, at Princess Point in Westdale and at nearby Sassafras Point.

But this morning's rain means that there will be no burn. An RBG official said they will wait for three dry days before trying again.

The idea is to burn off invasive species that sprout in early spring, making room for native grasses that emerge later. The aim is to restore tallgrass prairie and oak savannah plant communities.

burnin' for restoration

2010-04-01T21:16:00.000-04:00

Royal Botanical Gardens prescribed burns are scheduled for Tuesday April 6^th.

Tuesday’s burn schedule is currently as follows:

10:00am Briefing, York Boulevard Prairie (located on York Blvd. between Old Guelph Rd and the rock garden)

11:00am York Boulevard Prairie Prescribed Burn

12:00/12:30pm Princess Point Prescribed Burn

12:30/1:00pm Sassafras Point Prescribed Burn

*all times are approximate

Burning is an important component in tallgrass prairie and oak savannah restoration. There are viewing areas located at York Boulevard and Princess Point. Everyone is invited to come out and see what we’re doing to help these rare plant communities!

Lindsay Burtenshaw Terrestrial Ecologist, Royal Botanical Gardens

Dundas Litter Along Spencer Creek

2010-03-29T10:20:00.000-04:00

North Bank of Spencer Creek, west of Ogilvie

North Bank, east of Ogilvie (Metro Parking Lot)

Lower Spencer Creek Trail, east of Dundas Street (Canadian Tire)

Plastic caught in branches all along creek, both banks

North side of creek near Cootes Drive bridge (near junction of Ancaster Creek and Spencer Creek) - High water levels have spread litter over the banks into surrounding wetlands

City planners too eager?

2010-03-28T11:17:00.000-04:00

CATCH News – March 26, 2010

Making the official plan official

This week’s denial of the St Joseph’s Villa twin condo proposal could mark a shift in council’s approach to frequent official plan amendments. Councillors’ comments on the recent Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) rejection of a Dundas self-storage facility underlined their concerns that the city has been too eager to change the plan to accommodate development proposals.

Brad Clark referenced the OMB decision when he moved the motion to deny the condo plans. He said Hamilton’s official plan might be better named “the official guidelines” and said it was time the city actively defended its plans – a task he suggested had instead been taken up most effectively by Dundas residents who had “methodically” shown that the condo proposal was not consistent with the city’s written policies.

In seconding the rejection motion, Brian McHattie endorsed Clark’s position, while Bob Bratina argued that residential intensification projects should be directed to downtown areas rather than the suburbs. The only planning committee member to oppose Clark’s motion was Dave Mitchell, but he made it clear that his reasons were financial and that he didn’t want the city put in the situation of having to pay for outside planners for OMB hearings where council has rejected the recommendations of its own planning staff.

That will be required if St Joseph’s appeals the council condo decision to the OMB. A similar situation prevailed for the self-storage facility where a council rejection in 2009 was again based largely on research and arguments presented by residents in opposition to the staff support of the project.

Terry Whitehead recalled that staff had contended it would be very difficult to find an outside planner willing to defend council’s position on the self-storage facility. One was found – the highly regarded Joe Berridge of Urban Strategies – and the OMB officer sided strongly with him rather than the city’s planner who testified at the hearing for the proponent.

In his rejection of the self-storage proposal, JP Atcheson summarized the evidence of both Berridge and city planner Edward John.

“He (Mr John) maintained throughout his evidence that the use being proposed was compatible with the surrounding uses and that the built form being proposed would meet the objectives of the Town of Dundas Official Plan,” noted Atcheson. “He continued to maintain that from the material supplied with the application that he was satisfied that the site could be developed in conformity with the planning polices in place and with some minor changes, which could occur through the site plan review process, any of the new concerns presented to him could be met.”

“Mr. Berridge proffered that the self storage use was not an appropriate use in an open space area and that in his opinion, the current Special Policy Open Space Designation and uses currently allowed by the Zoning By-law for the site, represented good planning for the area and should be maintained,” wrote Atcheson. “It was his opinion that a full and fair reading of the planning policies in place as set out in his witness statement, would not support the change in land use designation being proposed …, nor did he subscribe to the notion that the self storage facility use was a ‘benign use’ but instead proffered that its inherent design characteristics and site needs, were not consistent with the direction to maintain and ‘not destroy the open space nature of the area’.”

Atcheson’s ruling clearly supported Berridge over John. He concluded that both Hamilton and Dundas “have made conscious and deliberate planning decisions to maintain the open space character of this site due to its proximity to Cootes Paradise Wetland Complex, an Environmentally Sensitive Area,” and have established policies “to ensure that even limited development of the site is undertaken in a manner that respects the unique character of the area.”

Dundas residents contend that the condo proposals also contradict numerous city policies.

King Salamander

2010-03-27T14:03:00.000-04:00

Brenda Van Ryswyk, Conservation Halton

Save lusty salamanders - avoid King Road

Ken Peters, The Hamilton Spectator
BURLINGTON (Mar 27, 2010)

They're lovers in a dangerous time.

It's the weekend of free love ... Jefferson salamander style.

Hundreds of the little amphibians with love on their tiny brains will brave a crossing of King Road this weekend. Those lucky enough to avoid having their libidinous lust crushed under vehicles tonight and tomorrow night will find paradise - or at least a chance to mate in a romantic roadside seasonal pond.

Burlington features one of the 27 populations of this threatened species in Canada. And every year since the dawn of time, the salamanders, who live on the forest floor, make their breeding trek.

Conservation Halton spokesperson Hassaan Basit said the Burlington population possibly ranges in the mid hundreds. The salamanders wait for the first warmth of March, followed by rain, to make their mating trek.

The salamander mating began last weekend. But this weekend - watch out. The salamander love-making cologne will be out in force.

"We expect that this weekend may be a big event, because there is a forecast for rain and really warm temperatures," he said.

After a night or two of lovemaking and egg-laying, the adults return.

"Why does the salamander cross the road? There is a very clear answer in this case. To lay their eggs and go back home," Basit said.

The eggs will hatch and the young salamanders will cross the road again this summer to join the adults on the forest floor.

Basit said Conservation Halton is hoping in future to have the portion of King Road between the 403 and Mountainbrow Road closed for one or two nights.

City officials had to abandon the road closure plan this spring because there was not enough time to organize a temporary closure.

That means there will be carnage in the pursuit of love. Basit said that is unfortunate, especially given the low numbers.

The salamanders are about five inches long. Two arms and two legs. They are brown with blue spots. They are very shy and elusive. They're just in the mood for love.

Basit said a temporary road closure next spring will make a very positive difference.

In the meantime, Basit hopes Burlingtonians will try to avoid driving on King Road in the evening this weekend.

Save gas - help save a species.

kpeters@thespec.com

905 526-3388

restoring oak savannah

2010-03-26T12:21:00.000-04:00

PRESCRIBED BURN SCHEDULED IN ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS’ NATURE SANCTUARY

This spring, Royal Botanical Gardens will be conducting several prescribed burns in order to restore rare oak woodland, oak savannah and tallgrass prairie habitat at Sassafras Point, Princess Point and York Boulevard Prairie of the Cootes Paradise Nature Sanctuary in Hamilton.

Prescribed burns require specific weather conditions and accurate forecasting before a precise date can be established. A second notice will be posted on our website once the date is confirmed.
Visit www.rbg.ca for a daily countdown to the burn day!

Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savannah Management at RBG

Today, less than one percent of Hamilton’s prairies and savannas remain. Prairie and savannah plant communities require frequent disturbances such as fire to be maintained. Without fire, woody plants and invasive species take over. Ecologists use low-intensity burns as a tool to restore these rare communities. In the past 30 years, highly successful burn operations have been demonstrated in many similar ecosystems throughout southern Ontario, including urban parkland settings in Toronto and Windsor.

Fire Safety

RBG’s oak savannah and tallgrass prairie burn will take place under the supervision of prescribed burn specialists from Lands & Forests Consulting Ltd. This will ensure that controlled conditions exist throughout the course of the event. Local fire departments and governments have approved the burn plan. There will be a safe viewing area at Princess Point for visitors to witness the prescribed burn.
The fuel type and length of burn will produce minimal smoke, however smoke may be present for up to 48 hours after the fire has been extinguished. For health reasons, it is recommended that asthmatics avoid prolonged exposure to the smoke. In addition to this, the smoke may contain small amounts of poison ivy oil. Those individuals who
are sensitive to poison ivy should avoid exposure to the smoke. If respiratory irritation occurs, please move immediately to an area with fresh air and contact a physician.

There will be no access to Ginger Valley Trail from Princess Point on the day of the burn. Sassafras Point trail will remain closed before, during and after the burn.

Get Involved!

If you are interested in volunteering for this important and exciting restoration event, or if you have any questions or concerns, please contact Lindsay Burtenshaw, Royal Botanical Gardens’ Terrestrial Ecologist, at lburtenshaw@rbg.ca or 905-527-1158 ext. 257.

The 2010 Oak Savannah and Woodland Prescribed Burn Project is supported by the Edith H. Turner Foundation Fund through the Hamilton Community Foundation.

Parkland saved!

2010-03-12T10:49:00.001-05:00

OMB nixes Dundas project

The Hamilton Spectator

DUNDAS (Mar 12, 2010)

A businessman has lost his bid to build a self-storage warehouse on land the municipality wants to maintain as open space due to its proximity to Cootes Paradise.

The Ontario Municipal Board ruled against J. Douglas Hammond of Ancaster in a 37-page ruling released yesterday. Hammond, the former owner of the Dundas Canadian Tire, appealed a 2009 decision by city council to reject his rezoning application for the two-hectare property on the northwest corner of King Street and Olympic Drive.

The property, under the former town of Dundas, had been rezoned in 1998 as special open space, permitting a number of recreational uses as well as commercial uses including a restaurant. Hammond bought the land after that.

The dispute pitted pro-business people against environmentalists. The OMB held a four-week hearing into the issue and heard from 15 witnesses and received 82 exhibits.

The board said permitting the storage facility would represent "a fundamental shift" in the planning context for the property.

http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/735916

VOLUNTEER FOR VOLUNTEER MARSH

2010-03-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

Volunteers for VOLUNTEER MARSH - join us to clean up this neglected marsh, near the historical Desjardins Canal in the east end of Dundas. Meet at the entrance to Martino Memorial Park, King Street East between Olympic Drive and East Street, Dundas.For more information about Volunteer Marsh, please follow this link.

If you are available to assist with removing debris and litter from this area, home to nesting turtles and other wildlife, please contact Randy Kay at 905-525-9140 ext. 26026 or e-mail dundastard(at)gmail(dot)com

CLEAN UP DATE is SATURDAY, APRIL 10 at 11am

View Larger Map

nature perspective

2010-03-11T07:22:00.000-05:00

We have degraded, fragmented and paved over the majority of natural lands, and the RBG is nobly trying to preserve what they have managed to save. As we have noted before, conservation isn't enough, we need restoration. As population density increases, these natural lands will become further degraded. By focusing on limiting trails to save the remnant, we miss the opportunity to re-evaluate the larger context of roads, parking lots, and unsuitable development in natural areas.

RBG protects endangered species
Trails reworked, protection areas created

Eric McGuinness, The Hamilton Spectator, March 11/10

The Royal Botanical Gardens wants to preserve the few remaining green spaces large enough to support endangered plants, amphibians and predator animals such as bald eagles and bobcats.

To do it, four special protection areas are being created in Cootes Paradise and Hendrie Valley, part of a natural lands stewardship program unveiled at an open house last night.

Tys Theysmeyer, head of conservation, says the need is urgent in an already heavily populated area expected to attract 500,000 new residents in the next 25 years.

"The pileated woodpecker generally needs a minimum of 200 hectares of older forest, which is hard to come up with around here. There are only three places left -- Borer's Creek Valley, the north shore of Cootes Paradise and Dundas Valley. It's the same with the bald eagle," he said, referring to a pair that appears to be nesting for a second year in Cootes.

To make the protection zones work, gardens staff are closing one trail near the eagles' nest and one in Hendrie Valley, while reopening three on the south shore of Cootes. They're also building boardwalks, lookouts and viewing platforms so visitors can watch eagles flying to and from their nest tree and gaze over the new Pasture Swamp special protection area in Hendrie Valley.

"It's boring to go somewhere that people have driven everything else out," he said. "It's better to stand on a platform and see a place that's full of stuff."

He hopes that giving names to former blank spots on the gardens' map will help educate people about the importance of sanctuaries to save endangered species.

People think of the Rock Garden and Arboretum, but Theysmeyer says they don't always realize the RBG owns 900 hectares of natural land in Hamilton and Burlington, areas that cost a lot to maintain with 27 kilometres of trails, seven boardwalks, 17 bridges and seven parking lots -- land that is home to more than 800 plant species and more than 250 bird species as well as fish, amphibians, reptiles and 37 mammal species.

"We need to remind people of the need to support the gardens financially through donations, bequests and especially memberships. We have to raise at least half of our meagre budget, and we have to fulfil our mission as a botanical garden as well as maintain the natural lands."

Theysmeyer said the gardens will spend $800,000 this year on species monitoring and infrastructure work in the natural areas, about as much as it costs to maintain one of the formal garden areas.

emcguinness@thespec.com
905-526-4650

keeping out...

2010-03-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking that one day, the RBG will be able to have roads that cut through sensitive natural areas repurposed “to create a balance between sensitive species, habitat protection, outdoor education and community enjoyment." In the meantime, bet on less hiking trails, a notion I first encountered here, and support in principle for the sake of restoration, but if we want to talk habitat disruption/restoration, Cootes Drive is a much much larger problem.

RBG proposes keep-out zones to protect plants and animals

The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) plans to protect sensitive plant and animal habitat by creating no-go zones in its 900 hectares of natural land.

Details will be presented Wednesday at an open house from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the auditorium of the RBG Centre, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington.

Officials say the most visible initiative of its natural lands stewardship plan will be establishing special protection areas and “repurposing” the 25-kilometre trail network “to create a balance between sensitive species, habitat protection, outdoor education and community enjoyment.”

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/734251

turtle talk

2010-02-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

Decline in turtle population topic of Duncan lecture series

Published on Feb 25, 2010, Dundas Star News

The Giant’s Rib Discovery Centre presents The Vanishing Turtles of Southern Ontario with Erin Nadeau, co-ordinator of the Adopt-A-Pond Program at the Toronto Zoo.

The presentation is part of the ongoing Bruce Duncan Memorial Lecture Series, named in honour of the late general manager of the Hamilton Conservation Authority, and is dedicated to promoting the Niagara Escarpment as an internationally recognized World Biosphere Reserve and a truly unique topographic feature of our natural and cultural heritage.

Nadeau has completed a bachelor of science with a focus on ecology and evolution at the University of Western Ontario, as well as masters of environmental studies with a focus on conservation biology and protected areas management from York University.

Her work with the Toronto Zoo’s Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation Programme, as both a wetland conservation biologist and more recently as the turtle stewardship and social marketing co-ordinator, has focused primarily on community outreach, marketing and field research. The presentation will address the decline in Ontario’s turtle populations and the recent rise in the number of “species at risk” turtles in the province. It takes place March 7, 2 p. m. at the Parks Canada Discovery Centre. Contact Ken, kenjoan75@sympatico.ca, or Stan, basil.cottage@sympatico.ca

eating away at marsh edges

2010-02-20T18:15:00.000-05:00

The marshes of Cootes Paradise west of Cootes Drive have been eaten away by the development of first railways, then roads, then parking lots, and very recently, a landowner's attempt to build a commercial property at the east end of Dundas.
Threatened with further marginalization is the Volunteer Marsh, adjacent to the property that became a subject of an Ontario Municipal Board hearing.
A google map shows the area in question, and will be updated as required to stay current with any changes.

View Volunteer Marsh in a larger map

turtles closing in on King Street East! YES!

2010-01-22T19:38:00.001-05:00

King East closure could improve turtle nesting

Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News Staff
Published on Jan 21, 2010

Closing King Street East near Olympic Drive to car traffic was suggested as an option for making 201 King St. E. a more viable turtle nesting area during Day 6 of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing appealing Hamilton city council's decision to reject a self-serve storage development on the site.

Julia Croome, lawyer for community group Protect Our Dundas, raised the possibility of closing the road separating the Desjardins Canal from the subject site, Volunteer Marsh and Lake Jojo during cross-examination of two witnesses presenting evidence on behalf of property owner and appellant Doug Hammond.

She raised the idea after environmental consultants Karl Konze and James Kamstra suggested the site was not a preferable option for turtle nesting– although they found five nests on the site and eight nests across the street at Desjardins Canal last summer. After Konze said preferable nesting sites are away from roads and road shoulders, Croome asked if he’d support closing King Street East between the former Veldhuis greenhouse property, now owned by the Hamilton Conservation Authority, and the site in question.

“It would make sense for all the roads around Cootes Paradise,” Konze said.

Later, ecologist James Kastra said: “The property does provide some function as a nesting habitat for turtles. However, the nesting function is low.”

He said the site is only useful when it is disrupted, as it was when his client placed fill on it, destroying any natural vegetation.

Over time, as vegetation is allowed to grow, he believes the site becomes less useful for turtle nesting. When OMB hearing chair J. P. Atcheson asked if it’s reasonable to maintain the property for turtle nesting, Kastra responded: “I think as long as the road is there, it’s not appropriate.”

Atcheson noted the evidence indicates a breeding habitat requiring turtles to cross a road becomes a significant impediment to their survival. During cross-examination of Kastra, Croome again asked if he agreed closing the area of King Street East to traffic would remove a barrier within a wildlife corridor and make it safer for turtles to move from the Desjardins Canal to marsh land and nesting areas.

“You’d agree with me that if King Street were closed to traffic, it would alter your analysis,” Croome said.

“It would make it better for turtles,” Kastra said, adding anything can be improved if there is a “will and a way” but suggested the reality was the road will not be closed and he can only consider the facts.

But Croome said the City of Hamilton is fighting the appeal and is opposed to the rezoning and official plan amendment applications. She said the city has the authority to close the road.

Kastra said he didn’t know that, and Atcheson jumped in.

“That hasn’t been introduced to me in evidence,” the chair said about the idea of closing any part of King Street East to vehicles. “Maybe it’s forthcoming."

The property owner’s case was expected to continue at least the rest of this week, with city planner Edward John and HCA staff member

Kathy Members among the most anticipated witnesses.

Statements from the public are expected to begin next week, followed by witnesses called by both the City of Hamilton and POD in support of the city’s decision to reject Hammond’s amendment applications.

The hearing is open to the public, Room 6 of the McMaster Learning Centre, 50 Main St. E. The hearing is scheduled to last four weeks.

http://www.dundasstarnews.com/news/article/200390

restoration work by the old canal

2009-12-18T10:50:00.000-05:00

Conservation authority hopes to remove 14 greenhouses

Craig Campbell & Mike Pearson, Dundas Star News Staff
Published on Dec 11, 2009

By requesting a $131,822 interest-free loan from the City of Hamilton, the Hamilton Conservation Authority is taking a first step towards remediation of the former Veldhuis greenhouse property purchased nearly one year ago.

If everything goes according to plan, the long process of cleaning up the site should begin early next spring.

Tony Horvat, the HCA director of land management, said last week the requested loan would pay for the removal of 14 unused greenhouses on the property. It will not pay for removal of five existing commercial and residential buildings, and one operating greenhouse, which will remain there for at least another full year.

“We’d like to be finished by the first of May (2010),” Horvat said of removing the first 14 greenhouses. “I might have to adjust that date.”

The loan request is expected to be considered by city councillors in January.

There are no plans or budget yet for any possible contaminated soil removal, as a phase two environmental assessment is still being finalized and no overall budget is set. A report on the EA is anticipated to go to the association board in January.

The HCA has already spent about $30,000 on consulting fees and has a $10,000 contingency allowance.

Horvat said the site still contains an array of greenhouse equipment and planting beds that must be removed.

In early 2008, the HCA purchased the Veldhuis site with intentions of naturalizing the area, re-opening access to the Desjardins Canal and new conservation site linking environmentally sensitive areas in Cootes Paradise. The City of Hamilton contributed $300,000, from a Dundas park fund, to the purchase.

http://www.dundasstarnews.com/news/article/196941

safe at home?

2009-12-14T15:51:00.000-05:00

Heartening to see this valuable natural area upstream from Cootes protected from being "developed" - I hope we are on the way to re-developing our views on the importance of natural areas threatened by sprawl. One more strike and the developer is out? Way to go Ontario!

Strike two against 760-unit Dundas retirement project

Hamilton Spectator
DUNDAS — The Ontario government is taking another step to block construction of a 760-unit retirement community on York Road in the rural Pleasant View Neighourhood.

Having passed a new law that sets the stage for protecting Pleasant View under the Niagara Escarpment Plan, the province now says it plans to reject an application to amend the Parkway Belt West Plan to allow the project, which is opposed by area residents and Liberal MPP Ted McMeekin, who recently said there was no way it would be built.

A letter from Robert Taylor, assistant deputy minister of municipal affairs and housing, to Ancaster planner Ed Fothergill, representing owners of the disputed site, gives the applicants until Jan. 11 to respond.

Neither Fothergill nor Don Charlong, president of the Pleasant View Ratepayers’ Association, had seen the letter when contacted by The Spectator yesterday, but Charlong welcomed the news and Fothergill said he would have to seek direction from his clients.

peace, but for the noise of traffic

2009-11-10T17:10:00.000-05:00

Princess Point, sunset, November 10, 2009, with a wall of traffic noise from highway 403 behind the lens.

longwood and vine

2009-11-09T17:58:00.000-05:00

Remains of the former Longwood Road between Cootes Paradise and Snake Road, now located in the Royal Botanical Gardens' Hendry Valley. Nature eats away at the asphalt, slowly reclaiming the forest floor. Roads can be reclaimed, and natural areas expanded, and here is a little bit of proof.

saving the climate, Royally

2009-09-11T19:31:00.000-04:00

Everyone can see the irony in sprawling suburbs named after the thing they replaced: "Meadowlands," "Headon Forest," and such, but the green thumbs at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington/Hamilton are doing their part to bring some ideas about nature back to the suburbs with their "No Mow, No Blow, No H20" display at the Laking Garden.
There is no doubt that the climate changing Carbon Dioxide-saturated atmosphere is being fuelled by human activities, and yes, your gardening practices have something to do with contributing to the problem.
So as a healing step in the right direction, check out these alternatives to monoculture lawns with an eye on aesthetics and the climate we all share.

PODcast at OMB

2009-08-25T09:33:00.000-04:00

Dundas fight moves to OMB

Developer appeals move to block warehouse near canal

Eric McGuinness, The Hamilton Spectator,
DUNDAS (Aug 25, 2009)

Environmentalist Julia Kollek says the citizens' group Protect Our Dundas and several individuals will join Hamilton city council in fighting off an Ontario Municipal Board appeal aimed at winning approval for a self-storage warehouse almost beside the Desjardins Canal.

First Dundas Leasing Ltd., owned by J. Douglas Hammond of Ancaster, is appealing council's rejection of a rezoning application. Hammond is the former owner of the nearby Canadian Tire store.

Opponents say the two-hectare property on the northwest corner of King and Olympic Drive should become part of a proposed urban eco-park in the corridor between Cootes Paradise and the Niagara Escarpment.

Hammond says the land has already been covered with fill excavated for a city sewage storage tank and is zoned for restaurants and commercial recreational uses. The warehouse requires a change to industrial use.

The OMB will hold a pre-hearing to identify participants and issues at 10 a.m. Thursday in McMaster University's Downtown Centre at 50 Main St. E., Hamilton.

City planning staff recommended council approve Hammond's application, but councillors disagreed, so the city will have to use an outside planner to defend that position.

Protect Our Dundas has hired Toronto lawyer Eric Gillespie, who handled Joanna Chapman's private prosecution of former mayor Larry Di Ianni and several corporations for campaign donation violations.

Kollek says, "Several people have contacted us (Protect Our Dundas) who strongly feel the facility is proposed in the wrong place, that there are plenty of suitable brownfield sites available and that it would make an ugly entrance to Dundas (easily visible from Cootes Drive).

"We're expecting a number of citizens to attend Thursday, and there are a lot who can't make it who are writing letters seeking participant status. We will read out the letters on their behalf."