[All] OMB Forces Urban Sprawl on Waterloo Region

Thu Jan 24 22:57:04 EST 2013

Hello EVeryone,
I had a chance to speak with Ken Seiling today and his comments were that this process is not yet complete and this is on half of the decision. I am not sure if he was trying to save face or not.
I also email Kevin Eby who has been very  involved in the hearings. His comments were:" that this decision 
is only interim decision that only spoke the potential quantum of land required, not the location. In its decsion the Board accepted in part the Region's position and in part the developers possition and instructed us to get back together to work out the dtails as it applies to the calculation."
Again I am not sure if this is the "approved" response but I want to remain a bit optimistic. I agree with Greg that PB is not to be trusted and that he is dancing  away at much of this decision and the media coverage that is is getting.
I will keep you posted if I hear more or something different.
Regards,

             Yvonne Fernandes                   
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,committed people can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

 Follow your dreams of a better world, and keep on trying, even when there seems to be little hope, because it is the right thing to do." Robert Alan 

> From: neiletaylor at sympatico.ca
> To: gcmichalenko at uwaterloo.ca; kevinthomason at mac.com; all at gren.ca
> Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:48:23 -0500
> Subject: Re: [All] OMB Forces Urban Sprawl on Waterloo Region
> 
> Greg
> We agree once again.
> Nei;
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: All [mailto:all-bounces at gren.ca] On Behalf Of Gregory C. Michalenko
> Sent: January-24-13 6:16 PM
> To: Kevin Thomason; GREN
> Subject: Re: [All] OMB Forces Urban Sprawl on Waterloo Region
> 
> This is truly horrible. We've got to expose these developers and the damage
> thy have caused. Unfortunately I'm away untilFeb. 22. 
> 
> i remember battling Britton when he assisted Sun life in tearing down 20
> affordable houses to expand their parking lot.There was a rumor circulating
> that Habitat for Humanity had agreed to salvage the torn down houses. I met
> with the national president (the office happens to be in Waterloo)and she
> said "There is no truth to that. It would simply be unprofessional to make
> such a decision on a hypothetical matter before any official decision had
> been made and a demoliton permit granted." I was one of the first
> delegations to speak at the critical Kitchener council meeting. When
> Britton spoke he blatantly lied, said that Habitat would welcome the chance
> to use the materials and the next delegation was a sincere naive dupe of
> Habitat enthusiastically thanking Britton for the wonderful contribution
> this would make to Habitat's good work. I had no chance to challenge B's
> blatant lie or mention my meeting with the president or tell the poor worker
> that he had been shamefully manipulated.
> 
> I despise him.
> 
> - Keep up your good work Kevin. I remember how grateful the Kitchener
> planners were when you spoke up in favour of the countryside line when it
> was proposed.
> 
> = Greg, Huatulco, Mexico 
> ________________________________________
> From: All [all-bounces at gren.ca] on behalf of Kevin Thomason
> [kevinthomason at mac.com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:46 AM
> To: GREN
> Subject: [All] OMB Forces Urban Sprawl on Waterloo Region
> 
> Good morning,
> 
> In a very disturbing ruling the OMB is rejecting the Region of Waterloo's
> Regional Official Plan (ROP's) attempts to curb urban sprawl and is
> demanding thousands of acres of greenspace be opened up for future
> development:
> 
> http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/874617--provincial-tribunal-sets
> -back-region-s-efforts-to-curb-urban-sprawl
> 
> It is a shameful ruling from a tribunal that shouldn't exist. Certain local
> developers are thrilled by the decision and are declaring a huge victory.
> 
> Twitter is rampant this morning with anger from the public that our
> progressive region which is leading the charge on intensification and better
> land-use at the bequest of the province is now being forced by the same
> provincial government to revert to old fashioned urban sprawl.
> 
> The Region is downplaying this decision and there is a closed door meeting
> of Regional Councillors (in camera) on Tuesday to discuss the ramifications.
> We will likely learn more over the coming days but it could be weeks or
> months until we learn what greenspace is going to be redesignated and
> targetted for future development to accommodate this ruling.
> 
> As most OMB rulings are final and unappeallable (short of an overturn by the
> Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing). I don't think there is much we
> can do here other than to try to support the Region's other efforts on
> growth management, public transit, water, environmental protection, etc. as
> much as possible and still try to positively create the community we want to
> live in.
> 
> Kevin.
> 
> -------------------------------------
> 
> Kevin Thomason
> 
> 1115 Cedar Grove Road
> Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2J 3Z4
> 
> Phone: (519) 888-0519
> Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648
> Twitter: @kthomason
> E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com
> 
> -----------------------------------------
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> All mailing list
> All at gren.ca
> http://mail.gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca
> 
> _______________________________________________
> All mailing list
> All at gren.ca
> http://mail.gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> All mailing list
> All at gren.ca
> http://mail.gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20130124/212fb1ec/attachment.html>