Dalron gets nod from planning committee

In the face of angry, organized and often vocal opposition, the city’s planning committee on May 14 approved a plan to build 15 homes at the end of Fairlane Road in the Lo-Ellen Park area of Sudbury.

Shouts of “We’ll see you at the OMB” were heard in the crowd following the vote, which passed 4-1, following more than 3.5 hours of public presentations opposing the plan. The OMB – the Ontario Municipal Board – is the last resort for anyone who opposes a municipal planning decision. The board can reverse local decisions, support them, or send them back for review.

While the developer, Dalron, and city staff saw no grounds to deny the application, there were plenty of arguments against, some voiced by lobby groups dedicated to protecting Bennett Lake, a shallow water body that abuts the proposed development.

Common concerns among residents were the increased traffic the new homes would bring to an already overloaded Loach's Road, and fears existing drainage problems – especially on Virginia Drive -- would be aggravated by adding more houses to the system.

Staff responded that, as a condition of this or any other project, the developer can't build unless the city is satisfied the development won't cause new problems in the area, or make any existing problems worse.

Adding 15 homes wouldn't have a significant impact on traffic, while Dalron will have to pay any costs associated with sewage and drainage issues.

However, the project is located near Bennett Lake, a shallow, ecologically sensitive lake that is the centrepiece to walking trails in the area. The project borders Laurentian University, which takes up 700 acres, and the Lake Laurentian Conservation Area, which includes 2,400 acres. When added to city-owned land in the area, it totals about 5,000 acres of largely undeveloped land.

“Our site is basically the last parcel of land designated as living area,” said Dalron representative Art Potvin.

Potvin said the homes will be 48 metres from the lakeshore, but that could be extended to 50 if it will ease concerns for opponents.

Dalron had planned a much larger development , involving hundreds of new houses on the 51 acres it owns in the area, but public outcry convinced them to come back with a much smaller, lower-density proposal encompassing about 4.5 acres.

The land was designated for future housing in the 1960s, and Dalron, which bought the property in 2005, needed it to be rezoned as low-density residential in order to proceed with its plans.

But a group called Friends of Bennett Lake made impassioned appeals to the committee to block the project. Group spokesperson Greg Dalton said the area is not only unique, but especially fragile. His group formed in 2003 to protect the lake, even before Dalron bought the property.

“Bennett Lake is a shallow lake, but it is a sanctuary to people in the area,” Dalton said. “At one point (on May 13), you could see 20 people walking the trails. They use it in all seasons for different functions.”

Additionally, it has become home to whippoorwills, a robin-like bird identified as an endangered species. Why, Dalton asked, didn't staff follow provincial guidelines and stop the Fairlane Road project to protect the birds?

“Why aren’t measures being taken to ensure the whippoorwill is being accommodated under the law?” he said. “Staff knew there was a species at risk in the area and didn’t do anything about it.”

But Potvin disputed that, and said the area isn’t a suitable habitat for the birds because, among other reasons, they build their nests on the ground. That means animals in the area – dogs, cats, raccoons – are predators. The nests are better suited for other parts of the area, such as the conservation and lands around the university.

“I was in the area yesterday, and I saw two dogs running around,” Potvin said. “Whippoorwills like quiet areas. They don’t usually nest beside” areas where there are people.

Dalton also predicted that phosphates from the homes’ new lawns will leach into Bennett Lake, causing the blue green algae plague that is spreading across Sudbury’s lakes.

“And if you get blue green algae in Bennett Lake, you will get them in Nepawhin (Lake),” said Dr. Raymond Jacques, chair of the Lo-Ellen Park Residents Association. “Why is that not mentioned in the report?”
Jacques also pointed out that a plan to re-route existing trails around the development asked hikers to cross a swampy area and then climb a steep rockface.

“The re-routed trail is not doable,” a passionate Jacques said, adding that infrastructure in the area – Loach’s Road in particular – can’t handle more development.

“It’s too narrow, it’s too tight and the sightlines are bad,” he said. “How can staff accept the extortion of the people?”

After the meeting, Potvin said Dalron is willing to find another route for the trail if the proposed one is insufficient. And he insisted that all concerns raised at the meeting were dealt with in the staff report.

One common theme among presenters was that they weren’t against development, but that the Bennett Lake area was too fragile to handle more housing. Ward 8 Coun. Fabio Belli said that message is one he hears a lot.

“Infrastructure is by far the biggest issue we face at the city,” Belli said, alluding to $500 million in upgrades the city needs but doesn’t know how to pay for. “But there is an opportunity here.”

Project after project comes to the planning committee, he said.

Developers meet all the requirements, but the public organizes to oppose the development. There seems to be a belief among the public that if you get a big turnout, city councillors will back down and kill developments, Belli said.

“Everyone says, ‘We’re not opposed to development, but not in our backyard.’ It seems that way everywhere we turn.”

In the end, the committee voted 4-1 in favour of Dalron’s proposal. It still has to be approved by city council as a whole at its meeting on May 22.

Committee chair Dave Kilgour suggested that mediation between Dalron and residents might be a way forward and offered to help make that happen.

“I’d be quite willing to get involved,” Kilgour said.

Voting in favour of the project was Belli, Kilgour, Ward 9 Coun. Doug Craig and Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac. Opposed was Ward 6 Coun. Andre Rivest.

Posted by Arron Pickard