'We aren’t just a bunch of stupid rednecks': East Gwillimbury residents vent on zoning bylaw

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 19, 2019
Simon Martin

A public meeting on a town zoning bylaw doesn’t usually lead to a packed house. But the Canada room at the East Gwillimbury Sports Complex was standing room only Sept. 11 for a meeting with residents concerned about their land rights.

A group called the East Gwillimbury Landowners Association managed to have its voices heard even though they were denied a chance to make a presentation.

“They will not let us present,” association member John Gamble said. “They don’t want the residents fighting this.”

The controversy started last spring when the town voted to do away with proposed environmental protection zones from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) after intense public backlash from residents. That didn’t sit well with the conservation authority, which appealed the decision to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

At the time LSRCA general manager of planning and development Rob Baldwin said reverting back to 1997 measures makes the town’s bylaws nonconforming with provincial legislation.

“We had no option but to appeal,” he said. “It wasn’t intentional, but it’s an awkward position.”

The town’s bylaws currently adhere to 1997 levels of environmental protection, pre-dating both the Lake Simcoe Protection Act and the Greenbelt Act, which take precedence over a town’s zoning bylaw.

But instead of duking it out with lawyers at the tribunal, the town and the LSRCA entered into negotiations and appear to have found an amenable solution.

The new solution would keep private property zoning the same. As part of the town’s commitment to protecting the environment, the town will zone and protect an additional 1,000 acres of publicly owned land.

But while an agreement between the LSRCA and the town appears close, angry residents asked why the LSRCA hasn’t dropped its appeal.

The conservation authority’s actions have rankled many residents who were concerned about what the new zoning rules would mean for their land value and future ability to build on the property.

“We aren’t just a bunch of stupid rednecks,” Gamble said. “There’s a lack of trust in the authorities involved because they are shutting us down.”

Baldwin was at the public meeting and reiterated to residents that the authority was left with no choice but to appeal because the bylaw didn’t conform to the official plan.

“Right now if we drop the appeal, you are still not in conformity,” Baldwin said.

Residents' association member Russ Robson said the whole ordeal is part of a wider trend of government infringing on personal property rights.

All Robson wanted to do originally was put a workshop on his property and he was told he couldn’t because it was wetland. At the same time the provincial government tabled the Bradford Bypass to go right through the same area.

“But I can’t put up my workshop,” he said. “This has been a blatant attack on personal property.”

Ward 3 Coun. Scott Crone said he believes the town and the LSRCA are very close to reaching an agreement.

At the same time Crone has been a vocal critic of how the LSRCA has handled the matter.

“They entered into this appeal without even a heads-up or consultation,” he said. “I would have expected at minimum there would have been a meeting. There seemed to be an eagerness to run to the LPAT.”

Crone went on to say as far as he knows it’s unprecedented for a conservation authority to appeal against a town they work with.

Ward 2 Coun. Tara Roy-DiClemente said the public meeting was an opportunity to for the public to get some of their questions answered.

Robson is concerned the matter has even got to this point.

"People should know what the hell happened here."