Environmentalists cheer Niagara Falls OMB decision

After a decade-long fight over a proposed seniors community on farmland next to protected Greenbelt, the OMB ruled against the landowners, city and region.

Thestar.com
March 30, 2015
By Rachel Mendleson

Environmentalists are applauding the outcome of what they say is one of the most important farmland protection battles in the history of the Ontario Municipal Board, over a hotly contested site on the edge of Niagara Falls, Ont., just outside the protected Greenbelt.

After a decade-long fight over a proposed residential community for seniors - and a grandfathered development application - the board ruled this month against a group of landowners, the city and the region.

The decision blocks the proposed expansion of the urban boundary of Niagara Falls to the northwest, effectively protecting 90 hectares of prime agricultural land.

Against the backdrop of a provincial review of the 10-year-old Greenbelt Plan, currently underway, environmental lawyer David Donnelly says this could be a “bellwether” case, suggesting there’s an appetite for expanding protection beyond the current boundaries.

“Every other community should go through the same exercise that we had to painfully go through for over a decade to get this land protected,” said Donnelly, who represented two of the parties fighting the proposed development.

The landowners include a church and an Italian cultural club, both of whom have invested ample resources toward the promise of a seniors’ community. For them, the verdict has triggered profound disappointment.