Mon, 13 Apr 2015
Town Council has directed staff to fight Bronte Green Corporation’s application to develop a new subdivision on the existing Saw-Whet Golf Course. Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearings on the application are scheduled to get underway on October 13, 2015, with the next pre-hearing scheduled for May 1, 2015. Bronte Green Corporation took its application to the OMB after the town did not consider the application within the timeframe specified in the Planning Act. The complexity of the required studies, and the developer’s delay in providing the required studies, led to significant delays in the overall process.
“Council cannot in good conscience consider a development application when all of the required studies are not yet complete,” Mayor Rob Burton said. “We are committed to taking an evidence-based approach to decision making, and we are confident that the OMB will agree that this is the right approach to take when we are making decisions that will impact our community for generations to come.”
Council also directed staff to schedule a public meeting to look at designating the publicly-owned lands within the study area with the appropriate natural heritage designation. This process would smooth the way for these lands to be considered as part of the ten year review of the provincial Greenbelt Plan.
The proposed Bronte Green application covers 55.1 hectares of land and proposes over 750 new residential units.