Is Mayor Meed Ward withholding information on what the Premier told her about an MZO on the Millcroft development?

By Pepper Parr

October 21st, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

It was Thanksgiving Day and the folks at Millcroft Greenspace Alliance (MGA) said they were thankful and wanted to “show our gratitude to the Mayor and Council of the City of Burlington for their continued commitment to preserving the Millcroft stormwater green infrastructure from pending development.”

At the October 8th budget pre-consultation meeting a golfer asked, “What is happening at the Millcroft Golf Course?”  The Mayor and Angelo Bentivegna, the ward councillor, spoke to the issue.  According to Angelo, the Mayor is continuing to work on preserving the greenspace even after the Minister of Housing has denied the City’s two requests to stop the development.

This kind of flooding on the golf course lands is managed by the draining system that was put in place when the golf course was laid down.

The golf course was designed with a drainage system that handles flooding like this.

The audience was told that the “Mayor is now in discussions directly with the Premier.

Prior to this question, the Mayor’s presentation included a general comment that the City does have funds set aside to purchase property if it becomes available.

What makes these comments of serious concern to the Millcroft residents is that on October 15th, shortly after Council came out of a CLOSED meeting it was learned that the Premier had told the Mayor directly that there would not be an MZO issued. An MZO is a Ministerial Zoning order that could quash the decision made by the Ontario Land Tribunal.

Flood mitigation is also a concern of the City as they await the final tally of the cost of the July 2024 flood.  A significant portion of the flood damage occurred downstream from Millcroft in Wards 4 and 5.  The importance of flood abatement through absorption in the fairway channels becomes increasingly important as climate change progresses.

The Hon. Karina Gould MP understands the implications of the proposed development and has supported our recent letter to the Hon. Steven Guilbeaut MP, Minister of the Environment by forwarding a copy to Meteorological and Climate Change Canada.  We have appealed to the federal government for funding for our City with regard to preserving the green infrastructure. In addition, we have again requested that the Minister apply moral suasion to the Premier of Ontario to do the right thing for our citizens. In the past, the Hon. Steven Guilbeault expressed his reluctance to provide disaster relief when the Province of Ontario allows development on floodplains.  Although the Premier denied that this would happen, Millcroft is a specific example where the Province has turned a blind eye.

Nevertheless, MGA does the decent thing saying: “We would also like to thank all our donors who have assisted in reducing the outstanding legal bill from the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing.  MGA was the only party to the hearing that provided expert testimony on the stormwater importance of this greenspace.  In the event that flood damage does result from the development, the case has been presented.  Our outstanding balance is approximately $2,500.”

The Millcroft community has done a superb job of raising funds within the community “to cover legal costs that amounted to$21,662.10  for all work including preparation for our initial submission to the Tribunal, the response to other submissions and the 17 day hearing. ”

MGA now has to cover the administrative costs incurred in the raising of funds.

 

 

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