By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 21, 2011 – John Taylor was not having a good evening. He had spent more than three hours talking about snow removal at a city council committee meeting on a day when the temperature was, in what he would call, the mid 80’s. His demeanor during the afternoon session was typical John Taylor – he asked probing questions and reminded staff members of things about snow removal they had forgotten about. Taylor is a fixture in the Council chamber.
But in the evening session we got to see a much different councillor. Taylor was ticked, and this is not a man one wants to trifle with. Late last week council members were given a report from a consultant the city had hired to give them data on what they called TZ’s – traffic zones, No one managed to define what a traffic zone was and for a short while it didn’t appear to really matter.
John Taylor, the most senior member of Burlington city council is usually a jolly fellow with a quick smile, can also be very pensive and reflective. He was not flashing any smiles at a Community Development Committee meeting last Monday.
Then a more detailed consultants report was put on the table. It’s purpose was to explain to council members what the city actually had in the way of employment land inventory. Now this get’s just a little complex.
There is land in the city that is zoned for buildings that people will work in and there is land that is zoned for houses people will live in. Developers make more money on houses people live in so they look for ways to have their land zoned for housing.
Burlington has a couple of developers who happen to own a lot of land. The Molinaro Group is one and Paletta International is another. The Paletta’s bought some land many years ago and have been holding it and waiting for an opportunity to develop the land and reap the return on their investment. Land that factories and office building are built on is called “employment lands” and that is what the Community Development Committee of Council focused on Monday evening. How much do we have and is it enough to meet future needs
Developers usually hire planning consultants to take their case before city council and Monday night was no different. Ed Fothergill, a fully qualified planner licensed to practice in Ontario, has in the past represented numerous developers. He is a very effective presenter who usually finds a way to be the last person to speak. He never demands, he is always open to discuss things and seldom wavers from what his client has sent him to council to do. The developers get good value for the fees they pay Ed Fothergill.
He was delegating to advise Council that land they had shown as development land was in fact not really development land but property that was not yet determined and the developer wanted to keep it that way. They wanted to keep all their options open with a distinct preference for housing development. Fair enough.
Taylor can remember a time when Dundas was the outer edge of development for Burlington. Then, he will tell you, the 407 came along and that moved the boundary out just a bit more and Taylor feels that the much discussed Niagara GTA highway that the province wants to push through the escarpment would be the end of rural Burlington. To add to his woes, Taylor feels developers want to exploit some data that consultants have put forward that suggests the city has more than enough in the employment lands inventory. Taylor isn’t buying it and he is totally ticked.
Then another consultant made a delegation. This fellow had been hired by the city to do a two phase report on just what existed in the way of development lands in the city. The reason for wanting this information was so that the city could ensure there was enough land for the factories or office buildings to go up that would ensure Burlington could create the jobs it had to create to meet the provinces Places to Grow program.
Now here is where it gets interesting. While we’ve not had a chance to fully evaluate the report – we’ll get that to you in a couple of days – what became quickly evident was that Burlington has more than enough land in the “employment lands” category to meet the long term needs.
That was all the developers needed to hear. The developers were now prepared to argue that ‘if there is more than enough land to meet the longer term needs of the commercial market, then release some of the land we own that is classified as development land, and let us develop houses on that property’. You see, housing development is a lot more profitable than office and manufacturing development.
And John Taylor wanted none of that. He wasn’t buying the developers arguments and he wanted to be darn sure that the city was never at a point where the land needed to create the jobs the city has to create is not available
Taylor harrumphed for a good part of the meeting and after listening to the consultants asked that Council committee go into Closed Session to attempt to figure out what the city should do. That’s when everyone is asked to leave the Council Chamber while the committee discusses things in private. One never knows what they say – there is usually a direction for the lawyers to do something but even what they are asked to do is confidential. We’ve had this beef with the city’s legal department before.
The planner the city had hired was careful to qualify his remarks and while he did say there appeared to be enough employment land to meet needs out to 2031 – he advised that the city needed to be very careful about how it used the employment land inventory it did have.
Paletta International, a company with large land holdings in Burlington and the developer of some of the larger housing developments constantly tangles with the city over land use issues Angelo Paletta is on the left.
But Taylor could see the writing on the wall and he happens to have a very good memory. He knew exactly what the developers were going to do next and it didn’t surprise him one but that there were representatives from two developers making delegations. When the first, Ed Fothergill, had completed his remarks Taylor said aloud: “The games have begun.” He knew exactly where this was going and he didn’t like the direction one bit.
Burlington has been kind to its developers but for Taylor losing precious employment lands would put the city at a serious long term risk. That’s what the city’s planning consultant was saying but the developers weren’t listening – they heard that there was more than enough development land in the inventory and they wanted some of it released for housing.
The games have indeed begun. We have more for you later in the week on this one.
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