West Woodbridge FedEx distrubtion centre gets go-ahead

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 4, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

A large FedEx distribution centre in west Woodbridge that raised the ire of area residents is going ahead as planned.

City councillors voted at Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting to approve a re-zoning application for a property west of Hwy. 27, near Martin Grove Road, paving the way for a 38,000-square-metre (400,000 sq. ft.) facility, which would be used by hundreds of trucks daily.

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, a strong supporter of the distribution centre, said before the vote that it’s important to consider the hundreds of jobs this project will bring to the city.

“We need to seize the moment and the moment is to create jobs,” he said.

As part of the approval, it was stipulated that measures to try to minimize the facility’s impact on nearby residents - already agreed to by the developer, FedEx and the West Woodbridge Homeowners Association - will be addressed during the final site plan.

Those measures include relocating or removing a proposed fuelling station, the use of full cutoff lighting on the site, a berm, and landscaping with mature evergreens along Hwy. 27.

Two other major issues for local residents - closing off a proposed east-west road at Hwy. 27 and the need for an acoustic barrier on the west side of Hwy. 27 to reduce noise - remain unresolved at this point.

“Considering all the facts and considering the screw-ups by our leadership, I think this is probably the best we could get,” said Nick Pinto, president of the West Woodbridge Homeowners Association and a candidate for the Ward 2 local council seat.

“We will pursue the item on the (east-west road) that should be lining up with Martin Grove. The community does not want that to happen so we’re going to push on that with the city and the region. Same thing goes for the acoustic wall on the east side (of Hwy. 27).”

FedEx representatives did not respond to a request for comment by press time Wednesday afternoon.

If the rezoning hadn’t been approved by city officials, it was slated to head to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for a decision.

The committee of the whole’s decision still has to be ratified at next week’s council meeting.