[All] OMB is flawed.

[Neil E. Taylor]

Randy
I have had several years, stretching well into a 3rd decade of being before
the OMB.  The municipality is the enforcer of OMB decisions unless one wants
to pursue the courts.  Municipalities around the province know that is the
case and also realize individuals are unlikely to go that route.  That is
why it so necessary to "get it right" before decisions are made in absolute
terms by the different municipal councils and before they enact their
by-laws, etc.
Regards,
Neil

-----Original Message-----
From: all-bounces at gren.ca [mailto:all-bounces at gren.ca] On Behalf Of Randy B.
McLean
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 2:05 PM
To: Jan Liggett; Gregory C. Michalenko; Deb Swidrovich; GREN
Subject: Re: [All] OMB is flawed.

Jan:

In a recent gravel pit issue the question came up as to who enforced OMB 
decisions.  The OMB responce was that the municipality enforced the OMB 
rulings.
That is a hard one to swallow when the municipality is taken to the OMB by a

private citizen or group, ruled to go against their plan and then expected 
to change
and manage their plan at extra cost to the themselves.

Municipalities are too pro-development and have become developers 
themselves.

Someone has to sit down and re-think this system.

Randy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jan Liggett" <jkliggett at rogers.com>
To: "Gregory C. Michalenko" <gcmichal at uwaterloo.ca>; "Deb Swidrovich" 
<deswid at gmail.com>; "GREN" <all at gren.ca>
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 1:49 PM
Subject: Re: [All] Reminder of Open House, Jan 20th re: Bald Eagles


> Greg,
>
> Myself and Claudette Millar (with  my husband Les Kadar working behind the

> scenes with her since he was being called as a witness), were the agents 
> at that OMB hearing, acting on behalf of Heritage Cambridge and the Grand 
> River Valley Co-alition respectively.  We are well versed on that case. 
> If it weren't for private citizens, the environmental protection on that 
> property would not be what it is today.  The gc architect kicked and 
> screamed the whole way through (I am happy that from what you say Owen has

> finally come on board) and the City of K kept citing the Audubon way of 
> designing golf courses.  What most don't realize is that the REAL Audubon 
> Society for the protection of habitat and birds is NOT the same as the 
> Audubon group set up to create golf courses.  Politicians and bureaucrats 
> constantly believe that they are and were uninformed in this case as was 
> drawn out during testimony. The chairs hands were tied for part of the 
> ruling and did only what they could legally do to stop where the tees 
> could go.  Personally I think that they didn't want the golf course there 
> at all.  "rare" by the way was not involved in the OMB hearing, nor did 
> they appear as witnesses.  The reason that the seasonal restriction is in 
> place is because of the work we all did. It was a 5 week hearing by 2 
> citizens acting on behalf of the people and the environment, and 5 lawyers

> for the government bodies.  As for the trail, that was a contentious issue

> because of the number of archaeological sites located on the property and 
> the habitat for waterfowl.  The trail was also restricted and some people 
> on EEAC know why.  The chairs cleared the room of observers and I asked 
> that all of the evidence be put under lock and key for these sites because

> of professional and amateur robbers.  All parties agreed.  The chairs also

> in their rulings stated that any trail had to be constructed with a 
> certain type of material because of impact on any sites affected should a 
> trail go in in the future.
> The region would never have been a party in the case if I hadn't on behalf

> of Heritage Cambridge filed against them at the hearing.  They certainly 
> weren't the good guys at the time.  It only got going because the City of 
> Cambridge turned down the City of Kitchener for the zone change and 
> Kitchener filed an appeal at the OMB.  I was able to piggyback on that 
> because the region had opened the door for the zone change to happen.
> The trail people also kicked and screamed about the seasonal restrictions 
> we demanded for the eagles.
> For those who wish to traverse the 401 in that area to continue their 
> hiking, I suggest the 1.7 million dollar pedestrian overpass a feet feet 
> to the west.  It was paid for out of all of our municipal taxes so that 
> the trail could be continuous.  In the meantime people in Cambridge 
> continue to die trying to walk and ride bicycles back and forth to work 
> etc. from the Hespeler part of Cambridge to the rest of their city because

> there is no proper route other than that which is frought with danger. 
> Recreation vs. necessity, another example of politicians making bad 
> choices.  And we as human beings continue to selfishly demand that we be 
> allowed to infringe on the small areas of wildlife habitat left.  I ask 
> the question, who should have the real rights, "reasonably well off" 
> golfers, hikers of "modest means" or the wildlife.
> As for being a model for future golf courses in the area, let us hope 
> there are no more.  If you interview the private golf course owners they 
> will tell you that the city of Kitchenr has an unfair advantage as they 
> use tax dollars to pay expenses while hiding other expenses through 
> different departments.  The association of private Golf Courses was 
> originally also a particpant, but pulled out under pre-hearing when 
> Kitchener agreed to open their books and change how they did them.  I have

> heard that that is still not being done.  This is a case of government in 
> competition with private enterprise.
>
> All is never what it seems.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jan
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Gregory C. Michalenko" <gcmichal at uwaterloo.ca>
> To: "Deb Swidrovich" <deswid at gmail.com>; "GREN" <all at gren.ca>
> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 11:48 AM
> Subject: Re: [All] Reminder of Open House, Jan 20th re: Bald Eagles
>
>
>> Dear Grenwiches,
>>
>> There may be an appropriate solution to this.  The eagles come to roost 
>> in the winter.  I am on EEAC (the Environmental and Ecological Advisory 
>> Committee to the Region) and one of the most interesting controversial 
>> cases we have had to consider was the OMB- approved extension of the Doon

>> Valley golf course onto the south side of the 401 next to the Grand 
>> River, on a property that has an environmentally sensitive policy area, a

>> provincially significant wetland, and the largest breeding  population of

>> least flycatchers in the Region.  The bald eagles were also an important 
>> issue, but easily resolved.  Luckily golf is a summer activity so the new

>> portion of the golf course is closed to one and every human being from 
>> November through to April at which time the eagles happily depart to 
>> their summer haunts.  We were also faced with the problem of making 
>> recommendations to control non-indigenous species of plants on the 
>> property.  One of the prime roosts of the eagles is the old Manitoba 
>> maples along the river there, which are not native.  We found a nifty 
>> solution to that too.  Manitoba maples are what biologists call 
>> "dioecious", literally "in two houses", and have separate male and female

>> plants.  Our proposal is to cut down all the female trees, leaving the 
>> mature male ones, and replant with native sugar maples or black willow. 
>> These can start growing and meanwhile the aging male Manitoba maples will

>> eventually fade away.
>>
>> The golf course architect is a follower of the classical old school that 
>> believes in fitting the courses into the landscape rather than carving 
>> the landscape to suit the golf course.  I was given a personal tour late 
>> last fall and was very interested to see how much had been preserved and 
>> the thoughtful measures that had been put into place to unobtrusively 
>> keep the golfers where they belong.  For example, on one walk ( 
>> accompanied by Bill Wilson, the noted bird watcher who works with "rare")

>> we found a nice group of yellow lady slipper orchids, and EEAC 
>> recommended that a small fence be put in to keep the golfers on the 
>> adjoining tee from straying into the orchid meadow.  On the fall tour I 
>> noticed that the architect had an even better solution:  instead of a 
>> fence, he just inserted a sliver of water wide enough and deep enough to 
>> discourage human beings unless they want to soak their pants and get 
>> their shoes mucked up. I think the new golf course will set a precedent 
>> for ecologically-minded golf course construction in our area -  in so far

>> as such things are possible.
>>
>> EEAC did discuss the matter of a public trail, which had been proposed, 
>> and had some differences of opinion.  I'm a strong believer in equity for

>> the public good. I myself had concerns that golfers, who tend to be 
>> reasonably well off, were getting a better deal from the project than 
>> hikers, some of whom have modest means.  I've been numerous times along 
>> the old rail line trail thrugh "rare" and have talked to hikers and 
>> cyclists, and found that some didn't have cars of their own, so trails 
>> accessible from adjoining urban areas were important to them. I felt that

>> a trail would be okay for May through October, after which the access 
>> restrictions to look after the welfare of the eagles on that stretch 
>> should apply to one and all.  My arguments were not shared by the 
>> majority or EEAC members who turned down the proposal for a trail.  There

>> was some feeling that a public trail would disrupt breeding waterfowl on 
>> that stretch of the river.  However, I went on two walks at dawn and 
>> early morning along that stretch of the river in May and June, and did 
>> not see any evidence of duck or other waterfowl broods on the river or 
>> the banks at that point.  It seems that the river there has most 
>> importance for wintering waterfowl and eagles, than summer breeding. (An 
>> osprey pair nested quite happily on a provided platform by the river off 
>> fountain St. The Walter Bean bunch do have a point that it would be nice 
>> to have a continuous trail without a break caused by the golf course.
>>
>> The MNR brought in a recognized bald eagle expert from Vancouver to 
>> discuss the situation of the eagles and the consultations with him  were 
>> very valuable for addressing various development issues concerning the 
>> eagles in a stretch of the river several km long.  A report was produced 
>> that has maps showing all recorded eagle sightings in the area.  It is a 
>> public document and I'll check to see if it is available online.  EEAC 
>> also was asked to consider a new subdivision on the other side of the 
>> river that has a high bank.  We recommended appropriate setbacks from the

>> river with restricted access because of the eagles.
>>
>> It's not clear from Neil's message which jurisdiction is proposing the 
>> trail this time around.  The land south of the 401 is Cambridge, and 
>> north of the 401 is Kitchener.  The Doon Valley golf course is owned by 
>> the City of Kitchener, so we will now have a  City of Kitchener golf 
>> course in the City of Cambridge!
>>
>> I will try to attend the open house.  Please contact me if you want to go

>> and need a ride. I live in uptown Waterloo.
>>
>> - Greg Michalenko
>> ________________________________________
>> From: all-bounces at gren.ca [all-bounces at gren.ca] On Behalf Of Deb 
>> Swidrovich [deswid at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 11:02 AM
>> To: GREN
>> Subject: [All] Reminder of Open House, Jan 20th re: Bald Eagles
>>
>> Hi everyone:
>>
>> I would like to thank Neil Taylor and Louisette Lanteigne for bringing 
>> attention to the planned trail and bridge near the wintering grounds of a

>> number of bald eagles near Doon in the City of Kitchener.
>>
>> I must admit that I am not a big fan of trails, but I do support trails 
>> that are planned properly for recreational enjoyment and especially, to 
>> direct human traffic away from sensitive habitats and wetlands.  It is my

>> understanding that bald eagles do not function well in close proximity to

>> humans, and there is a very real risk that these magnificent birds may 
>> not continue to use the present area as wintering grounds should the 
>> trail and bridge be built as planned.
>>
>> As many of you have experienced in your dealings with planners and 
>> consultants, the displacement of birds and animals is often considered 
>> acceptable in terms of the return to humans.  In this case, it is 
>> particularly disappointing to learn that the plan for these trails was 
>> initiated and financially supported by the Walter Bean Grand River 
>> Community Trails Foundation.
>>
>> Please try to make it out to the Public Information Meeting on January 
>> 20th, from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Banquet Room at the Doon Valley Golf 
>> Course Club House to learn more, and to voice your opinion to those city 
>> planners/councillors who may be in attendance.  It is critical that we 
>> remind them of the importance of placing these creatures first.
>>
>> See you there,
>>
>> Deb Swidrovich
>> 519-746-8403
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> http://gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca
>
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