Skip to main content

NATURE WIN!

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

a vision for nature in Cootes

View the Eco-Park Document here Make Cootes national park, group urges TheSpec.com - Local - Make Cootes national park, group urges Create eco-park in urbanized area Eric McGuinness , The Hamilton Spectator (Jan 28, 2009) The idea of a Cootes Paradise National Park is being revived by local conservationists. But they say it is jeopardized by plans for a self-storage warehouse beside the Desjardins Canal at the east entrance to Dundas. They point to a new vision of an urban eco-park -- maybe a national park -- incorporating the Cootes marsh, drafted by Urban Strategies Inc., the firm responsible for McMaster University's campus master plan among other Hamilton projects. Joe Berridge, a partner who has helped reshape waterfronts in Toronto, New York and London, produced the concept document at the invitation of Ben Vanderbrug, retired general manager of the Hamilton Conservati

McMaster's Parking Problem: Next Level

I'm sharing a recent article published in the Dundas Star News about McMaster's plan to build a - get this - $17-million dollar parking structure. Seventeen million. Yes, $17,000,000.00 That's a lot of money to provide temporary shelter for vehicles of people who choose to drive to campus. We will be following this closely. Here's the article.  Cootes Drive six-storey McMaster University parking garage under review Variances or amendment to zoning bylaw expected to permit parking structure Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News, Friday, March 5, 2021 Zoning bylaw variances, or amendments, could be required for a planned six-storey, 567-space McMaster University parking garage west of Cootes Drive, and north of Thorndale Crescent. University spokesperson Michelle Donavon said the $17-million structure on parking lot K at Westaway Road will help ongoing efforts to re-naturalize parts of the west campus, by moving some surface parking into the structure. “These plans will increa

Where did the water go? Art action in Lot M Parking

West Campus Eco-Art Project  A walking activity and site activation on McMaster’s West Campus.  West Campus Eco-Art Project is a project that incorporates creative walking activities and an artistic site activation connected with the West Campus Redesign Initiative at McMaster University. The initiative provides opportunities for connecting with nature through an on-line informational video, walking excursions and creative activities that deepen knowledge and experience with place in all its complexities (social history, citizen science, ecology and diversity).  Focusing on the Coldwater creek valley on McMaster’s West Campus, participants will learn about the history and unique features of the area and will be invited to then engage with the site through observation, sketching and stencil-making. Stencils will be used to paint text and image on the parking lot asphalt to delineate a blue line that marks an historic water route.  The project is supported by the McMaster Museum of Art (