Statement From Mayor On Resolution Request
My office has been receiving requests from the community recently asking Burlington City Council to pass a resolution regarding the proposed Millcroft Greens development application — specifically to adopt a resolution to preserve the golf course prior to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) Case Management conference on this matter in November 2022.
At this juncture, such a resolution would be both ineffective and damaging to the City of Burlington’s case and to the community’s interests.
Passing a resolution now would be ineffective because no resolution from Council could legally stop the OLT process that is currently underway. A hearing will be scheduled and a decision will be made there. Additionally, as we quickly approach the 2022 Municipal Election, current Council members cannot bind future councils; therefore, any resolution passed by this term of Council could be undone by a future term of council. The new term of council that will be sworn-in on Nov. 15, 2022, will need to take their own position on this matter and direct staff to defend that position at the OLT.
Passing a resolution now would also be damaging to the City’s case at the OLT because it would be seen as circumventing the full review, in a fair and impartial way to all parties, since it would not be based on any informed reports and recommendations from our own City staff because we don’t have them yet. It would be viewed as a purely political move by incumbents during an election to save their seats.
This is not how we undergo planning in the City of Burlington. Circumventing the process goes against our community’s interests – it does not help them.
We are currently waiting for staff to complete a full review of the proposed application, including all relevant studies and community feedback. That review is not yet complete due to the complex nature of this site, given it is on a flood plain and involves vast amounts of greenspace. This is very different from other development applications the City of Burlington has received that typically involve demolitions and rebuilds of existing buildings — without the same complex issues.
Due to the complex nature of this application, involving multiple stakeholders who needed to provide comments, it has taken longer than usual for our planning staff to properly review and come to an informed recommendation to bring to Council.
We serve the community’s interests best by allowing our professional staff and the independent consultant who reviewed the flood plain studies, to complete their work, and bring a recommendation to Council. This is expected in December 2022 or more likely January 2023. Council will then be able to take a well-informed position, backed by expert studies that can be defended at the OLT. We will follow this process because it’s the best way to protect our community’s interests.
Currently, the applicant’s appeal to the OLT is at the case-management conference stage where the issues to be discussed will be identified, it will be determined which expert witnesses need to be called, and, as a result, how long the hearing will need to be. A hearing is then scheduled and that will most likely be sometime in 2023.
An important reminder for our community is the resolution Halton Regional Council unanimously approved in 2019 to eliminate the OLT (then called the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal). Additionally, the City of Burlington Delegation at the 2022 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference advocated to the Province the importance of reforming the OLT so that it does not impede the democratic process and encourages the full participation by our community and strengthens accountability by elected representatives for their decisions.
Decision-making should always rest with local councils, our professional and qualified staff, and the community, for maximum accountability, transparency, and democracy.
This is a critically important community issue and I appreciate the great work, research and insights the Millcroft Greenspace Alliance and Millcroft Against Bad Development community groups have provided to the City of Burlington. I also thank these groups for engaging the Millcroft community, and beyond, on the issues at stake with the proposed Millcroft Greens development application. We’ve all heard from thousands of residents, and that input and lived experience will be very valuable for us once we are able to take a position on this matter.
Sincerely,
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
https://mariannemeedward.ca/statement-from-burlington-mayor-meed-ward-on-millcroft-greenspace/
