A local naturalist is sounding the alarm about a proposed development near the Orillia-Severn border.
The Inch Farm property, bordered by Highway 11 and Uhthoff Line, includes portions owned by the city as well as LIV Communities.
LIV Communities is looking to create 356 dwelling units — including single detached, semi-detached and townhouses — on 13.6 hectares.
Bob Bowles, a wetland evaluator who has been studying the natural features for decades, said development of the property would create a flood risk.
“They’re paving this over. Now the water can’t get away,” he said. “They’re losing the thing that is trying to protect us. We should be protecting it because it will protect us.”
He pointed to the 30 centimetres of rain that fell in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley in November and said that scenario is “not impossible here.”
“If we got 30 cm of rain in three days here, we would be swamped — this whole west area. This wetland would absorb that, filter it back and prevent flooding, prevent drought, prevent fires,” he said.
The property isn’t identified as a wetland in the city’s Official Plan or the Severn Sound Environmental Association’s watershed plan, but a County of Simcoe map labels it an ‘unevaluated wetland.’
“It’s a wetland. It’s got wetland plants,” Bowles said. “It’s still got water in it and all those wetland features.”
He said he found 30 to 40 plants that were not included in a list of species identified by a consultant.
Bowles estimated, based on counting stumps on the property, 1,200 to 1,500 mature trees have been cut down.
“We have tree-cutting bylaws to prevent developers coming in and cutting trees in large tracts,” he said.
Coun. Tim Lauer, a self-described “unabashed tree hugger,” said he hadn’t been made aware of any bylaw contraventions.
“To lose a chunk of the canopy is always regretful, which is why the environmental advisory committee is promoting canopy preservation and, consequently, the city is stepping up their tree-planting programs,” he said.
The planting of trees can be worked into site plan approval on the privately owned land, he said, adding there will be “lots of opportunity for planting on our own employment land and throughout the stormwater pond area and the open public space. Probably won’t be tree for tree, but we should be able, in time, to reduce the impact of the loss.”
He also noted there will be buffers to protect Silver Creek, as well as a stormwater pond that staff feel will be sufficient.
The site is designated ‘living area-neighbourhood greenfield.’ Bowles referred to that designation as an example of “greenwashing.”
“Neighbourhood greenfield might sound friendly. All it means is we can develop it,” he said.
Bowles was joined at the site recently by Lauer, Mayor Steve Clarke and Wesley Cyr, the city’s manager of engineering and transportation.
Clarke and Lauer have not indicated they have any major concerns about the proposed development.
“There’s been extensive work on this plan and I don’t think it’s subject to change,” Clarke said.
The city’s stormwater management plan, completed in 2016, “is taking into consideration storms are happening more frequently,” he said.
Bowles believes that plan and the Official Plan that was last updated in 2010 are outdated.
He said Clarke is “delusional if he thinks that’s a good watershed plan and that (an Official Plan) 12 years old is going to protect flooding.”
The mayor defended the plans and the information staff and council are using to guide the project.
“We’re working with the newest and most updated plans we have, and they’re updated as they need to be,” he said. “All you can do is follow the plans you have, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Business park
A neighbouring piece of land owned by the city will become a business park alongside Highway 11. That has Bowles equally concerned.
“Right in the wetland, they want to put a business park,” he said.
The city plans to create an arterial road, which could be up to five lanes wide, from Murphy Road to Burnside Line. It would stretch between the business park and the privately owned property, with the goal of eventually connecting it to Burnside Line.
“This should never have been developed, period, and if it were developed, you only need a two-lane access road. You don’t need five lanes,” Bowles said. “A factory shouldn’t be here. Nothing should be here, and the last thing we need is a five-lane, paved-over highway that’s impermeable land where the water can’t get away.”
He said the city “should stop development on this wetland immediately and try to restore it back.”
That’s not possible for the residential development, Lauer said, noting the draft plan of subdivision has been in place since 1993.
“For us to say we want this returned to forest isn’t as easy as it sounds,” he said.
“The current owner bought the land with the understanding that it was residential, not a wetland, and will be protected by the province through the Planning Act and the Municipal Act.”
As for the city-owned land, “I’m assuming we could change our minds on that, but I’m not sure that’s a sensitive area,” Lauer said.
Based on the conceptual design of the subdivision, “there’s nothing I see that’s really alarming,” he said, but noted there hasn’t been a presentation to council yet, and “the devil is in the details.”
Clarke said the development is one way to help the city meet its provincially mandated growth targets to plan for a population of 49,000 by 2051.
“We have limited areas for development,” he said, adding the concepts of annexation and intensification have both received “strong blowback.”
He and Lauer both said they have faith in the expertise of staff. Bowles doesn’t share that sentiment.
“Municipal mayors and councils need to question their staff. We need to elect a council that will say … ‘I want to protect natural heritage. I want to protect the community from natural disasters and I’m willing to do that and I’m willing to call our staff to task to do that,’” he said.
The situation at the Inch Farm property is “the worst of the worst,” Bowles added.
“It is not sustainable at all to take a major wetland like this, cut the trees off it, spread the wood chips around to soak the water up and start developing in the headwaters of Silver Creek,” he said. “I never believed, 25 years ago, when I first started to teach wetlands, that we would be at this point where we would lose a major wetland in my city.”
The Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition has also been critical of the plans for the property and the actions that have been taken on it to date. Read more about that here.
Public feedback
In 1993, a previous developer bought the property that is slated for residential development. At that time, a draft plan of subdivision included 169 units. LIV Communities is seeking a zoning bylaw amendment to allow for the additional units.
That company will hold an open house for residents who live within 120 metres of the site. A date has not yet been set.
A municipal class environmental assessment for the arterial road has been completed. The city is accepting feedback until Feb. 6. It can be sent to [email protected] and [email protected].
Those who want to request a higher level of study can do so by emailing [email protected] and [email protected].
